The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has released the Outlook Report on the State of the Marine Biodiversity in the Pacific Islands Region, prepared for UNEP and UNEP-WCMC as part of a global assessment.
The report identifies major environmental issues for the Pacific region and finds a need for greater human, institutional and financial capacity for environmental monitoring.
17 January 2011: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has released a report, titled “Outlook Report on the State of the Marine Biodiversity in the Pacific Islands Region,” which summarizes the major pressures on the ecosystems and responses to major threats.
The report covers key areas of the marine ecosystems contained within a combined Regional Exclusive Economic Zone of approximately 29 million square kilometers. Major marine environmental issues identified in the Pacific region include impacts from environmental change, habitat loss and the effects of coastal modification, invasive alien species, fishing pressure, and land-based marine pollution. The report concludes that the lack of human, technical, institutional and financial capacity in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) is a key factor in environmental management. The report thus highlights the need for appropriate resources for data collection, management and analysis for environmental monitoring in the region.
SPREP prepared the report for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), as part of a global assessment by the UNEP Regional Seas Programme. [SPREP Press Release] [Outlook Report]