Environment
PM's office goes solar
Friday 17 August 2012 | Published in Environment
The prime minister’s office has now been converted to solar power. Eighty solar panels were installed on Prime Minister Henry Puna’s office roof by local company Andersons Ltd. The official handover ceremony was on Monday morning. The initial work started in June, when the workers began to put down the cabling and rails in preparation […]
Climate change books predict extreme rainfall
Saturday 11 August 2012 | Published in Environment
Two recent publications on climate change, which predict increased temperatures and extreme rainfall for the Cook Islands, are being released by the Cook Islands Meteorological Service next Thursday. This is the technical product of three years’ collaboration between the met service and the Pacific Climate Change Science Programme, as part of the Australian Government’s International […]
Raina's responsible rubbishing
Saturday 4 August 2012 | Published in Environment
Mau Raina is disappointed he has to pay for other peoples’ waste but admits there’s nothing more he can do about the problem. It comes after an unofficial rubbish tip ended up on their section this week as cartons of unopened soft drink bottles were complemented by burnt beer bottles and aluminium cans. Raina and […]
Unofficial tip causes a stink in Aroa
Thursday 2 August 2012 | Published in Environment
The emergence of a rubbish dump in the Murienua district is causing a stink amongst local residents. Boxes of soft drink are scattered amongst the burnt beer bottles and aluminium cans on a private property on the Aroa back road across from the horse training centre. Land owner Mau Raina said he had encountered such […]
PM asked to enforce raui penalties
Monday 30 July 2012 | Published in Environment
Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) senior fisheries officer Richard Story is speaking out against ”cowboys“ who pillage fish from raui areas in Aitutaki. Implemented to ensure food resources are able to be maintained consistently, a raui is a ban on an area for a given amount of time imposed by traditional leaders, known as the […]
Finance needed for climate change
Tuesday 24 July 2012 | Published in Environment
Pacific economic ministers have discussed finance options for climate change, which remains critical for vulnerable Pacific island countries. At the 2012 Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting (FEMM) held last week in Tarawa, Kiribati, ministers received an update on climate change financing efforts. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat published a report to coincide with the FEMM, highlighting […]
A world without coral reefs?
Tuesday 24 July 2012 | Published in Environment
This startling article about the bleak future of the world’s coral reefs was written by ecologist Roger Bradbury, who does research in resource management at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. He has worked on coral reefs for 40 years. The article was published in The New York Times on July 13, 2012. IT’S […]
Lagoon Day educational
Saturday 21 July 2012 | Published in Environment
A successful and educational two days, is how this year’s Lagoon Day is being viewed by participants and organisers. The venue, in Arorangi, took participants from the sea to far inland, linking the message that what happens on the land impacts largely on the health of the lagoon. All but two schools from Rarotonga took […]
Water quality in streams deteriorates
Friday 20 July 2012 | Published in Environment
While water quality in the lagoons is improving, it is deteriorating in the streams. The Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) this year produced three separate water quality reports – two show five-year trends and one is last year’s annual report (which also includes data compiled in the first quarter of this year). For the year […]
Astounded by Lagoon Day
Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Environment
This opinion piece by secondary student Dean Tangata was written and submitted as a letter to the editor. I am a Nukutere College student and I attended the Lagoon Day on Tuesday July 17 and I was astounded at what I discovered. Did you know that the Arorangi waste facilities landfill was designed to last […]
Lagoon Day a great success
Thursday 19 July 2012 | Published in Environment
Lagoon Day co-ordinator June Hosking has hailed another successful two-day event. Over 700 students from 14 schools in Rarotonga attended the environmental education workshop and while numbers were down on previous years, the feedback from the surveys at the event has been positive. The bad weather that postponed the event from Thursday and Friday to […]
80 tonnes of waste per week
Wednesday 18 July 2012 | Published in Environment
School children from around Rarotonga learned of a statistic that was as concerning as the stench surrounding them when they visited the Waste Management Centre at Arorangi yesterday. Official data collected from the Waste Management Centre found Cook Islanders produce 80 tonnes of waste each week. ”That’s quite a bit for us,“ centre director Tai […]
Water quality reports released
Tuesday 17 July 2012 | Published in Environment
The Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) has this year produced three separate water quality reports. Two show the trends over five years for lagoons and streams respectively, whilst one is the usual annual report for year ending December 2011, but also has the first quarter of this year. The reports are part of a monitoring […]
Lagoon Day welcomed to Puaikura
Tuesday 17 July 2012 | Published in Environment
The Cook Islands isn’t that bad but we are at the tipping point and it’s very possible to turn things around. These were the words of Lagoon Day coordinator June Hosking at the opening of the two-day event yesterday as she urged everyone to make a change to slow down the negative impacts humans have […]
Solar unit gifted
Monday 16 July 2012 | Published in Environment
The Cook Islands could be using more solar energy in the future if Kiwi entrepreneur Baskhar Sharma has anything to do about it. Sharma, of trading group Pacific New Zealand, presented Prime Minister Henry Puna with a state-of-the-art hybrid solar air conditioning unit. The solar panel, which goes by the name of Sol Air, is […]
Lagoon Day looks at issues for 2 days
Thursday 12 July 2012 | Published in Environment
Highlighting the health of the Rarotonga lagoon and solutions to lagoon issues is the main focus of Lagoon Day which opens today and continues tomorrow. The annual Lagoon Day programme this year will be held in Arorangi with the headquarters of the two-day event to be set up in front of the Ministry of Planning […]
Puna 'walks talk' with solar power
Wednesday 11 July 2012 | Published in Environment
Work has started to convert the prime minister’s office to solar power. Eighty solar panels arrived from New Zealand last week, and now four workers from local company Andersons Ltd – who won the tender – will install the panels over this week and next. The initial work started two weeks ago, when the workers […]
Design starts on solar system
Monday 9 July 2012 | Published in Environment
An Australian design group is working to power part of the Northern Group using solar energy. Solar power systems will be developed on Rakahanga, Pukapuka and Nassau with US$4 million which Japan donated to the Pacific Environment Community (PEC) fund. A group of three designers from the Centre of Appropriate Technology (CAT) Projects, which won […]
Solid waste in the spotlight
Monday 9 July 2012 | Published in Environment
A committee has been given the go-ahead to find the solution to the Cook Islands’ solid waste problem. Minister of infrastructure and planning Teariki Heather set up the Waste Financing Committee in February to investigate possible options for long-term financing for solid waste management, and has now confirmed they can continue with their work. The […]
KiteSUP gives lessons
Saturday 7 July 2012 | Published in Environment
To meet the growing demand for stand-up paddleboard (SUP) lessons, three locals have been certified as SUP instructors. Kitesurf instructor Brynn Acheson and assistant kitesurf instructor Ina Nooroa of Muri business KiteSUP, together with Bill Tangapiri of Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruizes, were recently certified to teach stand-up paddleboarding. After two days of theoretical study, lifesaving […]