Islands

Life On Coral

Aims of The South Pacific Commission

By W. P. Goodwin

A SCIENTIFIC party recently set out from the headquarters of the South Pacific Commis sion, at Noumea, New Caledonia, to carry out a project dealing with the economic development of coral atolls.

It consists of members of the In stitut Francais d’Oceanic engaged by the Commission and it is work ing at Tarawa, in the Gilbert Is lands. Its task is to investigate ways of increasing the quantity and variety of subsistence and commer cial crops, and of improving domes tic animals and fisheries on these curious, beautiful, but not over generous products of nature.

The Commission began its work programme about two years ago in full co-operation with the local Administrations, planning some 35 projects for immediate attention in the health, economic and social fields.

One of these is the problem of the coral atoll people, of whom there are probably some 100,000 Polynesians and Micronesians living on about 200 of these islands, chiefly in the Gilbert and Ellice, Tokelaus, Northern Cooks, and in French Oceania. Communities vary from as few as 30, up to 3 000, each ekeing out a precarious existence because of the extremely limited resources of their homelands.

Most of the Commission’s econo mic activities are, of necessity, directed to agriculture and its im provement on the volcanic and other larger islands, where the greater part of the indigenous population of the region is located.

But in no place are the problems so acute and their solution of greater concern to the people involved than on the coral or low islands.

Moreover, the larger islands are able to cope with their problems to a much greater degree, whereas the low islands are utterly destitute of experimental resources and tech nical personnel. They may receive the benefit of sporadic investigation, but sedom of sustained studies de voted solely to coral island popu lation problems, A CORAL atoll—product of the coral polyps—is a more or less circular reef, descending steeply into the sea on one side and shoaling into a lagoon on the other. The reef encloses the lagoon, which is usually calm and shallow,

although some have deep anchor ages. Some lagoons have deep water passages through the enclosing reef, some are entirely enclosed.

Lagoons may be anything from one to 30 miles across.

Islets, some as much as 10 miles long, but seldom exceeding 400 yards in width, form in time along the fiat tops of the circular reef and frequently inside the lagoon on top of scattered reefs. They seldom are more than about 15 ft. above sea level.

Scientific interest in atolls and their origin is great. A compre hensive study was made on Bikini before and after the atom bomb ex plosion. Boring with a diamond drill brought up cores from as deep as 1,300 ft., but the complete answer as to origin was not revealed.

The economic resources of coral islands are restricted. There is no running water; seldom any surface water. There are no pastures or cattle. A few pigs and fowls con stitute the livestock. Coconut palms, rarely in full health and vigour, cover most of the islands, with a few other tree species in sufficient quantity for local needs only. Often the full population-carrying cap acity of an atoll has been reached.

Copra is the principal money earner, pandanus mats are a second source of income, and pearl and trochus shell have a small market.

At present, there is no substitute for copra, because of the meagre, mineral-deficient soils. Food plants consist of breadfruit, pandanus, taro, bananas, some citrus, some Polynesian chestnut, arrowroot, and some scattered., individual plantings’ of pineapples and sweet potatoes.

The lagoons and reefs supply fish and crustaceans.

Fresh water, of which the supply is always more or less limited, pre sents another problem.

Far from living lives of Elysian beach-combing, so often pictured in works of romantic fiction, the low island people are the most deserv ing of assistance in the field of hor

ticulture and economic security which the Commission can promote.

The Commission’s project is not for a general survey of an atoll, therefore, but is solely an endeav our to find means to enable the Coral Islanders to raise their stand ard of living. Principal avenues of

research are: • A programme of coconut palm improvement de signed to increase yields and resist ance to pests and disease; • A food plant programme, including study of the breadfruit tree, the develop ment of wet-land taro, the intro duction of bananas, the production of other foodstuffs, especially those requiring additional fertility, such as sweet potatoes, vegetables and citrus fruits; • The supplementary nutrition of pigs; • The improve ment of poultry in weight, egg-lay ing capacity and freedom from disease; • The development of shell fisheries by planting trochus and pearl shell and assessing the possibilities of sponge cultivation; • A survey of handicrafts with a view to their development as a source of income.

The work will include experi ments with such recent techniques as the possibilities of the sun-still for the distillation of fresh water from salt, and hydroponics for the production of certain plants in water.

Unfortunately, early results can not be expected because, such is the present pressure of population on the means of subsistence, that any loss in production must be avoided during experiments and in changing to new or improved agri culture. Nevertheless, an excellent beginning has been made, and the

project will continue until tech niques have been discovered for making life less precarious for these unfavoured, distant people.