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.
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.
Dataset that provides a direct link to Cook Island's data hosted on the GBIF website / records.
direct internet link to data related to bird species of the Cook Islands on the BirdLife International portal
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.
Guidelines, brochures, Indicators and published work on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity which is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.
direct link to Cook Island's data on the GBIF website
direct link to all species occurrences in Cook Islands on the GBIF records
Bird data recorded on the BirdLife International Portal
Map of the protected areas for Cook Islands with country-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.
Map of the protected areas for Northern Islands, Cook Islands with country-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.
Map of the protected areas for Southern Islands, Cook Islands with country-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.
In accordance with the precautionary approach contained in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the objective of this Protocol is to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) agreed on a provisional list of global headline indicators, to assess progress at the global level towards the 2010 target (decision VII/30), and to effectively communicate trends in biodiversity related to the three objectives of the Convention. In decision VII/30 the COP established a process for testing and developing the indicators, with inputs from SBSTTA, the ad hoc Working Groups on ABS and Article 8(j), and an AHTEG on indicators for assessing progress towards the 2010 biodiversity target.
Pages 76-365 of the DECISIONS ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AT ITS EIGHTH MEETING 2006 Report. Meeting was held Curitiba, Brazil, 20-31 March 2006
DECISIONS ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AT ITS NINTH MEETING 2008
DRAFT FINDINGS OF THE AD HOC TECHNICAL EXPERT GROUP ON BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE 2008 in London. THE SECOND AD HOC TECHNICAL EXPERT GROUP ON BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
CBD Goals and objectives of the Strategic Plan and provisional indicators for assessing progress 2010
Goals and Targets of the Programme of Work on Protected Areas
Goals, targets and timeframes, and island-specific priority actions for the Parties 2009