Environment
Rising sea levels film threaten Takuu
Tuesday 3 April 2012 | Published in Environment
Yet another island in the Pacific is facing the daily challenge of dealing with climate change. The plight of the inhabitants of Takuu, or Mortlock Islands, was the subject of a documentary that showed at the Pacific Media Centre at AUT University in Auckland recently. Film producer Lyn Collie screened ‘There Once Was An Island: […]
Aitutaki stars in global Earth Hour
Tuesday 3 April 2012 | Published in Environment
After travelling through 150 countries across the globe, Earth Hour has drawn to a close in the Cook Islands for 2012. The community in Aitutaki was officially the last in the world to join the global initiative and switch off its lights on Saturday evening to raise awareness of the effort to combat climate change. […]
Daytime Earth Hour saves 210kw
Tuesday 3 April 2012 | Published in Environment
Businesses in Avarua have led the way in Rarotonga during last week’s salute to Earth Hour, recording the biggest drop in electricity use in the hour-long event. When midday struck on Friday – signalling the beginning of Earth Hour in Rarotonga – energy provider Te Aponga Uira (TAU) recorded a 210 kilowatt reduction in demand […]
Campaigning for sharks
Monday 2 April 2012 | Published in Environment
About 25 people showed up to New Hope Hall last Thursday night to talk sharks. The Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative (PICI) ran a public meeting for all interested parties to explain its vision for a proposed shark sanctuary in Cook Islands waters. PICI founder Stephen Lyon describes the meeting as successful and straightforward, and reports […]
Earth Hour at the OPM
Saturday 31 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Offing the lights for yesterday’s Earth Hour – Office of the Prime Minister’s climate change director Ana Tiraa with Harriette Kimiora and Celine Dyer of the central policy and planning office.
Stanford searching for world's strongest coral
Saturday 31 March 2012 | Published in Environment
A team of marine biologists from the renowned Stanford University in the United States is on a search to find the world’s strongest coral, the itinerary for which includes the Cook Islands. Currently the team is in American Samoa. Stanford marine biologist Stephen Palumbi describes the back reefs at Ofu Island in American Samoa as […]
Crush to the rescue!
Friday 30 March 2012 | Published in Environment
It was like a magic act mounted on the back of a truck – a few metallic crunches, the smallest shake and, hey-presto, a car has disappeared. Well, transformed at least. But it’s not an ace up the sleeve or an invisible wire that makes this trick a reality, instead it was a semi-trailer mounted […]
OPM switches off and saves
Friday 30 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Assessing power use and offering energy conservation tips to staff in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has paid off with a decrease in power consumption and an estimated saving of nearly $1000 in its electricity bills for the past month. The OPM Corporate Services Division and the Renewable Energy Development Division undertook an […]
Earthly lessons for schools nationwide
Friday 30 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Cook Islands schools as far away as Manihiki will be taking part in Earth Hour commemorations today to help raise awareness of the fight against climate change among our students. But it’s not one school in the north that will join the Earth Hour push – almost all schools in the Cook Islands will be […]
Atiu, Aitutaki 'important bird areas'
Thursday 29 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Te Ipukarea Society (TIS) recently visited the islands of Atiu and Aitutaki to raise awareness in the community about the identification of their islands as Key Biodiversity Areas and Important Bird Areas (KBA/IBA). KBAs and IBAs mark the places on earth that have global importance for conservation. They must meet one or more internationally accepted […]
Agriculture must return to its roots
Wednesday 28 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Crop prioritisation and sustainable crop intensification were the two topics that captured discussions attended by agriculture minister Nandi Glassie at the 31st FAO Regional Conference for Asia and Pacific held in Hanoi, Viet Nam earlier this month. Glassie was one of 39 ministers of agriculture who attended the conference, including minsters from Samoa, Tuvalu, Tonga, […]
Shark sanctuary bid goes regional
Wednesday 28 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Representatives of the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) attending the WCPFC meeting in Guam this week will have more than tuna to talk about. Bycatch is a major concern in any commercial fishery and as a result, a portion of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting is dedicated to mitigating fishing impacts on […]
Marine park doco in production
Wednesday 28 March 2012 | Published in Environment
A team of renowned videographers was in Rarotonga and Aitutaki last week to shoot footage for a documentary that will launch the proposed Cook Islands marine park on to the international stage. Accompanying the crew were Conservation International president Russell Mittermeier and his son Mickey and project director Peter Stonier. Freelance cameraman Richard Wollocombe, who […]
New perspective for advisor
Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Having worked almost exclusively on the donor side of donor projects until now, joining the WATSAN team as communications advisor is giving Catrina McDiarmid a new perspective on her work. McDiarmid has previously worked at the New Zealand ministry of foreign affairs and at the New Zealand Aid Programme in Wellington, both times as a […]
T-shirts for Facebookers
Tuesday 27 March 2012 | Published in Environment
In the world of water and sanitation, you know you’re doing right when the shirt hits the fan. And the Ministry of Infrastructure and Planning’s Water, Waste and Sanitation unit (WATSAN) is trying to do just that – get some free shirts to its new friends on Facebook. WATSAN is trying to open up as […]
Wildlife trade fight goes regional
Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Environment officer Elizabeth Munro is representing the Cook Islands at three back-to-back regional workshops in Fiji. Two are being put on by Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), one regarding international trade in wild fauna and flora and the other on a regional approach to marine management. The first, formally entitled CITES (Convention […]
MMR is going back to school
Monday 26 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Staff of the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) have been going back to school – not as students but as instructors to impart information about the numerous marine animals and plants in our lagoon. Part of the aim is to explain a bit more about the role of MMR in conserving and managing these resources. […]
Climate change appointment
Saturday 24 March 2012 | Published in Environment
Rerekura Teaurere has been appointed climate change co-coordinator within the climate change division of the Office of the Prime Minster. Though she grew up in New Zealand, Rerekura is of Penryhn descent, and recently completed a master of science honours degree at the University of Auckland. Her thesis focused on exploring inter-organisational influences on sustainable […]
Tuna stocks worth millions: MMR
Saturday 24 March 2012 | Published in Environment
A stock assessment carried out by the French Space Agency (CSL) for the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) has estimated there is 190,000 tonnes of skipjack tuna in Cook Islands waters. According to the report most of skipjack (au’opu) are found in the northern Cook Islands, north of 15 degree latitude above Suwarrow with the […]
Come down to weather office
Friday 23 March 2012 | Published in Environment
The Cook Islands Meteorological Service is today inviting the public to its Nikao office to watch videos explaining what the country’s weathermen do. The impetus for the invitation is World Meteorological Day, which falls on March 23 each year. Today World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) members, of which the Cook Islands Meteorological Service is one, commemorate […]
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