This publication ‘Strategic Environmental Assessment – Guidelines for Pacific Island Countries and
Territories’ has been prepared to provide guidance on the application of SEA as a tool to support
environmental planning, policy and informed decision making. It provides background on the use and
benefits of SEA as well as providing tips and guiding steps on the process, including case studies, toolkits
and checklists for conducting an SEA in the Appendices.
This document was approved by the Cabinet of the Cook Islands Government on 6th March 2020 (CM (20) 060).
The Protected Areas Working Group (PAWG) Action Plan 2014-2020 aligns with the Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas (Framework) in terms of time span and objectives. The Action Plan was developed during a series of planning meetings and the Annual meeting of PAWG held in July 2015.
The number of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and institutions has grown steadily over the last few decades. The work taking place under these agreements and within these institutions is increasing in volume and specificity, and it is having an increasingly substantive impact, particularly as there is an increasing focus on practical implementation.
This edition of the Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiator’s Handbook principally to respond to the need for a practical reference tool to assist in addressing the many complex challenges in such negotiations.
Integrated Island Management (IIM), responds to the unique circumstances of small island ecosystems through development of holistic integrated management systems that operate at the scale of ecological, social or physical processes within, and to, islands.
This report highlights the principals and lessons learned with case studies on IIM
This publication features fourteen (14) case studies from small island developing states from the Caribbean,
the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. The stories range from conserving marine resources
and endangered species to initiatives in ecotourism, reforestation and network development.
The objective of this regional meeting is to build the capacity of the 14 project target countries, with an aim to build an open data community amongst the users of the national data portals and inform outputs. This is intended to improve south-south collaboration, enhance the opportunity for sustainability and increase the feeling of ownership and belonging amongst the project countries.
This will be delivered by real world application of Inform developed processes and tools, focused on a common area to all countries; protected areas.
This list of indicators was developed through the Inform project at SPREP for use by Pacific Islands countries (PICs) to meet their national and international reporting obligations. The indicators are typically adopted by PICs for their State of Environment reports and are intended to be re-used for a range of MEA and SDG reporting targets. The indicators have been designed to be measurable and repeatable so that countries can track key aspect of environmental health over time.
The Action Plan was endorsed by PAWG members at the Annual Meeting and was presented to the 18th Pacific Islands Round Table (PIRT) Annual Meeting held in July 2015.
The handbook is a joint publication of Environment Canada and the University of Joensuu – United Nations Environment Programme Course on International Environmental Law-making and Diplomacy. Environment Canada initiated this project and provided core contributions for the main text. UNEP generously provided the glossary, as well as expert advice on the handbook as a whole.
This publication is a companion piece to Island Innovations—UNDP and GEF: Leveraging Environment and Energy
for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, a joint UNDP and GEF (Global Environment Facility) book launched at the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, 2014.
Practical arrangements for the regional meeting
Summary table for the SPREP core national environment indicators. Includes theme and indicator definition, purpose and desired outcome.
Forum Leaders embrace Pacific regionalism as:
*The expression of a common sense of identity and purpose, leading progressively to the sharing of institutions, resources, and markets, with the purpose of complementing national efforts, overcoming common constraints, and enhancing sustainable and inclusive development within Pacific countries and territories and for the Pacific region as a whole*
Principal objectives are;
The Convention for the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region (1986) is also known as the SPREP Convention or Noumea Convention. The Convention has two Protocols that also entered into force in 1990. This Convention is the major multilateral umbrella agreement in the Pacific Region for the protection of natural resources and the environment.