Assessing vulnerability to climate change and socioeconomic stressors in the Reef Islands group,Solomon Islands

This article assesses the vulnerability to climatic and socioeconomic stresses in the Reef Islands, Solomon Islands, an atoll island group in the Southwest Pacific. Climate change and the associated sea-level rise are often seen as the most pressing challenges to atoll communities, yet this study aims at critically re-assessing this view by placing climate in the context of a range of other internal and external stressors affecting local livelihoods, including population growth, inadequate land use practices, and lack of economic potential, as well as external factors such as poorly developed infrastructure, economic marginalization and weak governance of Solomon Islands. Findings suggest that some of these non-climatic stresses are currently – and in the short term – more important determinants of local vulnerability than climate change and sea-level rise. Certainly, these stresses are likely to be exacerbated by different elements of climate change in the short, medium and long term, but generally speaking climate change does not appear to be a major driver of the current changes in the islands. On the basis of these observations, the possible adaptation options, relevant to different time scales, are discussed.     

Continuity and change: Spatiotemporal land use dynamics on Bellona Island, Solomon Islands

Traditional agricultural land use systems in the humid tropics of the Southwest Pacific are, as elsewhere, affected by globalization processes. This paper analyzes the directions of change in the land use system of Bellona, a small outer island in the Solomon Islands. We focus on the human–environmental interaction that shapes land use patterns and practices in the context of theoretical lines of thought concerning intensification of agricultural systems in the tropics. Aerial photography from 1966 and satellite imagery from 2006 in conjunction with studies from the 1960s and a contemporary household survey reveal only minor changes in the agricultural system. Land use and land cover dynamics are related to agricultural strategies, demographic factors, institutional actors as well as biophysical drivers or constraints. Local agricultural production still contributes significantly to local subsistence but imported food has also become a major food source. Hence, land use has become partially disconnected from the local population pressure and therefore remains relatively stable while the larger livelihood portfolio has undergone significant diversification. At present, the agricultural system is a supplement to a range of strategies supporting the increasing number of people on the island. This explains why land use patterns continue relatively unchanged while livelihood and food supply strategies have changed.     

Managing Ontong Java: Social institutions for production and governance of atoll resources in Solomon Islands

This paper explores the changing nature of social institutions and organizations for resource management on Ontong Java and their central role in maintaining livelihoods. Using detailed field data for three time periods, 1970–72, 1986 and 2006–07, and drawing on earlier secondary data, a longitudinal analysis of changes in governance and livelihoods is undertaken. Increased exploitation of marine resources has widened the resource base and increased people's access to goods and services. Following the ban in 2005 on the bêche-de-mer trade, however, livelihoods have reverted to being more subsistence oriented. For almost two decades after 1978, a communal organization, the Area Council, succeeded in regulating exploitation of the atoll's marine resources to ensure sustainable use, but in the 1990s it collapsed. In addition there was a paralysis of institutions that had once settled land disputes. This failure of atoll governance is a greater threat to future 'sustainability' than the usual processes that are invoked for atolls and small islands generally. As the Solomon Islands state is also failing, we argue that local institutions and organizations have a vital role to play in managing access to resources and the future of livelihoods on Ontong Java atoll.     

Marine biodiversity and ethnobiodiversity of Bellona (Mungiki) Island, Solomon Islands

This paper reports on the marine biodiversity and ethnobiodiversity of Bellona, a small island in Solomon Islands inhabited by Polynesians who have, for centuries, depended on biodiversity for their own sustainability. The Bellonese have names for at least 8 whales and dolphins, 7 reptiles, over 500 finfish, 191 molluscs, 48 crustaceans, 29 echinoderms and a range of corals, other invertebrates and marine plants, most of which have commercial, subsistence or cultural value. If conserved, this inheritance will continue to provide a foundation for continuing sustainability in a rapidly globalizing world. The paper highlights the importance of the preservation, and application to development, of ethnobiodiversity for food and subsistence security, and contingent issues of conservation and sustainability in small island developing states. As the current extinction crisis escalates globally, the rate of attrition of the intangible indigenous knowledge that has coevolved with this threatened biodiversity is probably far greater. In itself, the recording of information on biodiversity and related sustainable livelihoods is not sufficient to ensure sustainability. There is a vital need to integrate this into the formal education system and applied scientific activities at all levels to achieve the right balance between agriculture, wild harvest and trade, upon which sustainability and subsistence affluence still depend.     

Marine resource conservation and prospects for environmental sustainability in Anuta, Solomon Islands

It has been argued that atolls have abundant, varied and dependable marine resources and that atoll-dwellers' exploitation of marine fauna has remained essentially constant since prehistoric times. According to that line of argument, modern technology, in and of itself, has had little effect on the relationship between human populations and the natural environment. A countervailing view contends that the market economy and reliance upon money have disrupted egalitarian socioeconomic systems and threatened the long-standing ecological balance. Here I consider questions of environmental sustainability and economic viability on Anuta, a Polynesian outlier in Solomon Islands. Anuta, a volcanic island, has more abundant terrestrial resources than do atolls, and all indications are that it has been a hierarchically-organized chiefdom for well over a dozen generations. Nonetheless, it is a small, seemingly vulnerable community. In reality, productivity of land and sea have remained stable at least since the 1970s, in part because of conscious, purposeful decisions intended to preserve the island's natural resources. Thus, Anutans can be described as conservationists in the technical sense used by some authors. Yet on Anuta, as elsewhere, a combination of population growth and market exchange has begun to place a strain on the environment and raises questions for their system's long-term viability.     

An indigenous soil classification system for Bellona Island – a raised atoll in Solomon Islands

One of the challenges of evaluating existing traditional farming systems is to combine local knowledge and modern scientific methods and terminology. This requires an evaluation of indigenous soil classification in modern terms. This paper focuses on an indigenous soil classification system developed by local farmers on the island of Bellona, Solomon Islands. The definitions of the different soil types are described and the principles of the classification system and the applicability of ethnopedology in soil surveys are discussed. Based on interviews with about 20 per cent of the farmers on the island as well as standard soil chemical and physical determinations on main soil types, an evaluation of the soil types for cultivation of various crops is carried out. The soils on Bellona are developed on oolitic or clayey phosphate-rich deposits forming the basis for the agriculture production on the island. The Bellonese soil classification system is mainly based on the physical properties of the humus-containing top layer. Subsoil layers are only used for classification if they are very close to the surface and may be mixed with the topsoil. Results show a general agreement among farmers, who perceive the same four out of seven soil types as highly useful for cultivation and rank these soil types similarly according to their suitability for different crops such as yam, watermelon, cassava and sweet potato. It is concluded that the indigenous soil classification is in line with the soil production potential and useful for land evaluation on Bellona.     

Contrasting Approaches to the Management of Common Property Resources: An institutional analysis of fisheries development strategies in Shetland and the Solomon Islands

The paper compares and contrasts the development experiences of two fisheries-dependent archipelagos: the Shetland Islands, located in the temperate seas of the North-east Atlantic, and the Lau community of the island of Malaita, in the Solomon Islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Whilst the coastal communities of both island groups have always depended upon the sea for their livelihood, their indigenous peoples are distinct in origins, culture, historic tradition, economy, and social imperatives. However, a closer examination of the recent development of the two archipelagos reveals that, whilst they are contrasting in the fisheries sector specifics, they have, over different time scales, adopted similar management strategies in the pursuit of sustainable fishing. In both instances, the island communities have sought to support the local fisheries economy by tempering the external forces of the centre. This has been achieved, with varying degrees of success, by adopting management control and resource 'ownership' strategies in response to social and economic turbulence in the environment. The experiences of the two archipelagos have demonstrated that to maintain a coherent fisheries management strategy over time and a sustainable resources base requires a pro-active approach, the input of resources, and moderation of the pressures created by the market. The future is uncertain as the fisheries organisations of the archipelagos seek to stabilise the access and ownership arrangements applied to the common-property fisheries resources of coastal waters.     

A Geography of Islands: Small Island Insularity

Routledge Studies in Human Geography. Stephen A. Royle. London: Routledge, 2001. x and 237 pp., maps, diags., photos., and index. $100.00 cloth (ISBN 1‐85728‐865‐3). Reviewed by Victor Prescott, Department of Geography, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.     

西部大开发战略背景下的地区工业化

目前,阻碍西部地区工业化的主要问题包括：(1)土地、劳动力、基础设施等要素条件差;(2)离经济核心区距离远;(3)生态保护压力大,产业进入门槛高;(4)所有制结构不太适合市场经济发展的要求;(5)政策等软环境有待进一步改善。西部大开发战略为西部地区工业化提供了历史性机遇。首先,植树种草的生态环境政策迫使农民从乡村走进城市;其次,中央政府向西部地区转移支付的资金支持增多;第三,东西部人员交流逐渐增多;第四,对外开放程度提高。因此,应该扩大开放度,注意投资多元化建设,提高基础设施建设规划的针对性,重点支持第三方物流发展,规范市场,大力发展劳动密集型工业,以推动我国西部地区工业化进程。     

A Simple Graphical Technique for Conditional Long Range Forecasting of Below-Average Rainfall Periods in the Tuvalu Islands, Western Pacific

For the Tuvalu Island group in the western Pacific, a simple graphical method is proposed as a means of forecasting whether rainfall totals for the next 1, 2,…,6 months will be below average. The method is based on scatter plots where the points are color-coded as above- or below-average rainfall, with the plot axes being lag-1 and lag-2 NINO4 sea surface temperatures. Within the scatter plots there are reasonably clear data fields with higher frequencies of below-average rainfalls associated with cooler precursor NINO4 temperatures. These data fields are defined by subjectively emplaced separation lines which bifurcate the scatter plots into “predictable” and “unpredictable” fields. If two precursor NINO4 temperature values define a point located in a predictable field then a warning would be issued for below-average rainfall over the next n-month period, depending on the time scale of the scatter plot. A long rainfall record at Funafuti in Tuvalu indicates that success in predictable-field forecasting of below-average rainfalls would range between 68% for 1-month rainfall totals and 89% for 6-month totals. The forecasting success derives from persistence of cooler NINO4 sea surface temperatures which are associated with lower rainfalls in Tuvalu. However, many dry periods are also located in the unpredictable field and cannot be forecast by this method.     

Soil erosion in the Falkland Islands: an assessment

Observations and data concerning soil erosion on clay-rich, sand-rich and organic soil materials are reported for the Falkland Islands, South Atlantic, where soil erosion is both widespread and currently active, though rather uneven in its distribution. The most extensively eroded areas are located on coastal sand deposits and where sandy soils occur at inland sites. There is evidence that some erosion is natural and was initiated before the Islands were settled; other erosion is of more recent origin and can be associated with land management practices, principally grazing management, stocking rates, and the frequency and intensity of pasture burning. The impact of soil erosion on the agricultural economy of the Islands appears to be negligible and it is not perceived to be an important environmental issue. This lack of concern probably arises because the on-farm and off-farm costs of erosion have never been determined and there are no data relating to rates of erosion. It is suggested that a research programme be established aimed at monitoring erosion rates, assessing land use practices that initiate erosion, and assessing the costs of erosion. Furthermore, guidelines for soil conservation should be established. If pasture burning is to continue, a recommended code of practice should be drawn up. Given the importance of the sheep industry to the Falkland Islands, it is desirable that the grazing potential be maintained.     

我国西部生态退化的社会经济分析--以川西为例

导致川西生态退化主要原因是经济发展水平低,人口超过环境容量,农村生产方式和生活方式落后,以柴、粪为薪、天然放牧,陡坡垦殖,砍伐森林等导致植被破坏,草场退化,水土流失,据此,对川西的区域资源优势,川西较低密度人口,川西资源开发和支柱产业选择应重新评价和定位。进行川西生态建设,实施可持续发展战略,必须营造开放的社会－经济－自然复合系统的耗散结构,构造社会、经济发展与生态建设协调的有序结构和机制。同时,较彻底地改造农林牧生态系统,开创与生态协调的农业结构,生产模式,种植模式和管理模式,进行农牧区社区建设,根除刀耕火种,陡坡垦殖,游牧的社会基础。     

Palaeomagnetism of the Macaronesian Insular Region: The Cape Verde Islands

Palaeomagnetic pole positions have been determined for a collection of igneous rocks, comprising nearly five hundred samples, from the Cape Verde Islands of Santa Antao, Sao Vicente, Sao Nicolao and Sao Tiago. Limited data from the islands of Sal, Maio and Fogo are also presented. Stratigraphic control suggusts that the lavas are overwhelmingly Miocene in age on Sao Tiago and Sao Nicolao. Similarity in the palaeomagnetic pole positions indicates that Miocene lavas are also dominant on Santa Antao and Sao Vicente.
Substantial areas within two of the islands are of reversed polarity only, suggesting either a rapid extrusion rate, or the existence of a long reversed polarity epoch during the Miocene period. The palaeomagnetic pole positions for each island are close to the present geographic pole, excluding the possibility of Post-Miocene differential crustal spreading (or rotation about a vertical axis) in this part of the Atlantic. The palaeomagnetic pole position for the entire survey is consistent with the Miocene geographic pole being removed from, but close to, the present geographic pole; and is in harmony with the European polar wandering curve.