Environment
Miss Earth and Miss South Pacific, here we come!
Thursday 25 October 2012 | Published in Environment
Exciting times are ahead for the Miss Cook Islands Pageant Association with two of the island’s pageant queens taking part in the Miss Earth and Miss South Pacific pageants.
An agent of change for the Cooks
Thursday 18 October 2012 | Published in Environment
The country’s new energy commissioner readily admits he didn’t quite know what he was in for when he started his role a week before the Pacific Leaders’ Forum in August.
Cooks not at ecoislands summit
Thursday 18 October 2012 | Published in Environment
An international meeting on island states; sustainability is being held in Britain this week, but the Cook Islands won't be there.
Award for 'persistent pursuit of the truth'
Tuesday 16 October 2012 | Published in Environment
Non-governmental environment group Te Ipukarea Society has presented Cook Islands News reporter Rachel Reeves with an award for her dogged “pursuit of the truth” in covering offshore fisheries issues.
One-off solution to plastic issue
Friday 12 October 2012 | Published in Environment
Seventy-nine tonnes of plastic was shipped off Rarotonga last weekend, but this is a one-off solution to a long-term problem.
Plastic bag ban still in transition
Wednesday 10 October 2012 | Published in Environment
The National Environment Service (NES) says it’s only a matter of time before retailers will be stocking biodegradable plastic bags after a ban on importing non-biodegradable bags was imposed last month.
Protestors rally to save old tree
Saturday 6 October 2012 | Published in Environment
Demonstrators rallied yesterday to save the 130-year-old tamarind tree at Cooks Corner.
High wind trickery
Friday 5 October 2012 | Published in Environment
Where there’s wind – you will find local kite surfer Pauro Arnold. Arnold is building up an impressive repertoire of kiting tricks which is sure to rival international riders at the next Manureva kite surfing competition in Aitutaki next year. Strong winds over the last week or so have given the 2011 local kite surfing […]
Cooks' renewable energy programmes could get accolades
Friday 5 October 2012 | Published in Environment
A new awards programme was announced on Friday to celebrate renewable energy pioneers in small island developing states like the Cooks Islands. Renewable energy programmes and enterprises that aim to help vulnerable small island developing states make the move to sustainable sources of power are invited to enter a new awards category launched by green […]
Food, health and water security are affected by climate change
Thursday 4 October 2012 | Published in Environment
An agricultural ministry employee has learned that the Cooks need to take urgent action to combat the security issues around inevitable environmental change. Maria Tuoro attended the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) workshop on the security implications of environmental change in the Pacific, held in Hawaii from August 5 to 10. Tuoro, the first […]
Ocean acidification will affect pearl farmers
Thursday 4 October 2012 | Published in Environment
The marine resources ministry has tentative plans in place to deal with increasing ocean acidification levels. According to non-profit environmental group Oceana, the Cook Islands are in the top five nations most likely to have food security problems caused by climate change and ocean acidification in coming years. An author of the study, Matthew Huelsenbeck, […]
Legal fishing practice crucial says McCully
Wednesday 3 October 2012 | Published in Environment
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully addressed the United Nations last week in New York, updating the general assembly on the recent Pacific Leaders Forum in the Cook Islands. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), McCully talked of the responsibility New Zealand feels to small island states in the Pacific – […]
Ponia denies ocean acidification affecting resources
Wednesday 3 October 2012 | Published in Environment
The Cook Islands is in the top five nations most likely to have food security problems caused by climate change and ocean acidification, international environmental group Oceana said last week. The non-profit group ranked the Comoros islands in the Indian Ocean as most vulnerable to the increasing acidity of the world’s water, which is caused […]
New manager for outer islands climate change
Monday 1 October 2012 | Published in Environment
Willie Tuivaga has just been appointed as the programme manager of the Strengthening the Resiliance of Island Communities to Climate Change initiative. Part of a team of four at the climate change division of the Office of the Prime Minister(OPM), Tuivaga started his new role three weeks ago. He didn’t have to move very far, […]
Enforcement the shark problem: Bishop
Thursday 27 September 2012 | Published in Environment
Marine resources minister Teina Bishop says the government’s hesitation to declare a shark sanctuary in the Cook Islands has to do with a lack of funding to support enforcement. “Declaring is one thing but making sure we police it, making sure the right types of hooks are adhered to, no traces on the boats, is […]
Trash collectors endure rain and mud
Wednesday 26 September 2012 | Published in Environment
Despite the near cyclonic conditions on Saturday afternoon, the third event of the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative’s Rubbish Roundup was good fun, thanks to the helping hands of 25 Cook Islands Canoeing Association paddlers and the usual crew from National Environment Service, WATSAN and Pacific Divers. In the pouring rain, the group met at Avana […]
Disaster management gender checklists launched
Tuesday 25 September 2012 | Published in Environment
A practical guide that prompts disaster risk managers to consider the different impacts of disasters on the lives of women and men living in small islands countries was launched last Wednesday. Integrating Gender in Disaster Risk Management in Small Island Developing States: A Guide is intended as a practical tool for disaster managers and their […]
Climate change affects men and women differently
Tuesday 25 September 2012 | Published in Environment
A recent international publication on how people react to disasters differently based on gender shows similar thinking as displayed in a recent Cook Islands internal affairs ministry publication on gender. The Cook Islands National Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and its subsequent plan of action note that women and men are affected differently […]
No official list of threatened species
Saturday 22 September 2012 | Published in Environment
The Cook Islands does not have an official list of threatened species, which means there is a “marked absence” of detailed management plans, says the country’s National Heritage Trust’s director Gerald McCormack. In comparison, New Zealand is helping a record number of native species thrive, through the Department of Conservation (DOC) using an active management […]
Pacific nations share ideas for sustainability
Friday 21 September 2012 | Published in Environment
The Pacific Leaders Forum was not only a time for political connections to be made, but also on opportunity for sharing ideas on sustainability. Stephen Hazelman, production manager of Women in Business in Samoa, used his time in Rarotonga to visit businesses and industry that are part of the Pacific organic movement. One such visit […]