CSV file containing species richness values and mapping parameters for marine species (with a probability of occurrence > 0.5) derived from AquaMaps. A total of 33,512 species were used in the generation of this file.
Coordinate system is WGS84 (ESPG 4326) with coordinates expressed in longitude and latitude.
Fields in this file are:
C-Square Code: unique identifier for grid
Longitude: longitude in decimal degrees
Latitude: latitude in decimal degrees
Species Count: number of species modeled at given point
Traditional leaders, Island Councils, communities and government have all contributed to the establishment and management of PAs. Most Cook Islands PAs are not covered by legislation, and the few that are legislated vary in their levels of protection. Only three of the 14 terrestrial PAs are covered by formal government-based legislations and regulations, which include the Suwarrow National Park Declaration, Takutea Island Regulations and Takuvaine Water Catchment Regulations.
This paper highlights the seriousness of the “biodiversity crisis” on atolls and the need to place greater research and conservation emphasis on atolls and other small island ecosystems. It is based on studies over the past twenty years conducted in the atolls of Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. It stresses that atolls offer some of the greatest opportunities for integrated studies of simplified small-island ecosystems.
There are 14 terrestrial PAs, which total at least 1407.2 hectares (five PAs are uncalculated), or about six per cent of the Cook Islands’ total 240 km2 land mass. Terrestrial PA are concentrated in a few locations. Three of the 15 islands in Cook Islands are wildlife reserves (Suwarrow, Takutea and Manuae), almost 40% of the terrestrial PAs are represented by four motu on Pukapuka, and three of Rarotonga’s four PAs make up 36% of total terrestrial PAs.
Map of the protected areas for the Pacific Islands Region with regional-level summary statistics on the amount of area under protection, count for each type of protected area (terrestrial or marine), and the count of their designation.
AquaMaps are computer-generated predictions of natural occurrence of marine species, based on the environmental tolerance of a given species with respect to depth, salinity, temperature, primary productivity, and its association with sea ice or coastal areas. These 'environmental envelopes' are matched against an authority file which contains respective information for the Oceans of the World. Independent knowledge such as distribution by FAO areas or bounding boxes are used to avoid mapping species in areas that contain suitable habitat, but are not occupied by the species.
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas, updated on a monthly basis, and is one of the key global biodiversity data sets being widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, International secretariats and others to inform planning, policy decisions and management. The WDPA is a joint project between UN Environment and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Redlist species of Samoa as of 09/04/2019
Resources for the SPREP Inform workshop in Samoa
Planning resource for integrated action planning for the management of the Cook Islands marine environment
vegetation types within the mainland coastal region provinces
vegetation types for the provinces in the PNG highlands region
CVS version of the data in excel