action plan
p. 12 · Read in the full issue
The watchdog
The Oceania
BASED in Noumea, the South Pacific Regional Environ ment Programme, or SPREP, coordinates the “action plan” for Oceania. It works on behalf of the 22 island governments and administrations of the region in partnership with the South Pacific Commission, the United Nations En vironment Programme, the Forum Secretariat and the Econo mic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
“Some people argue that economic development is foremost and must be achieved at all cost,” says SPREP coordinator Dr Vili Fuavao. “Part of the resources are then diverted to ‘mend’ the environmental damages an approach used by ‘de veloped’ countries to achieve economic independence. The situation in the Pacific doesn’t allow that.”
Established in 1978, SPREP’s action plan was mapped out at the inaugural Conference of the Human Environment in the South Pacific at Rarotonga in 1982. The Plan is a regional strategy, identifying about 60 aspects of environmental assess ment, management and law.
In 1986 the SPREP Convention and its protocols were signed. Besides prohibiting the dumping of radioactive waste in the marine environment of the region, its provisions cover other forms of marine pollution from land-based sources, from the atmosphere, mining and coastal erosion. The pream ble recognises the need for cooperation to ensure sustainable Pacific resource management.
Six years ago the SPREP secretariat formed an Association of South Pacific Environmental Institutions (ASPEI) to coor dinate their activities.
Among the agency’s activities are; • Coastal water quality monitoring: Studies are made of coastal water conditions and marine pollutants such as heavy metals and pesticides are monitored. • Natural resource management: SPREP carried out the sur vey and monitoring of coastal ecosystems and the interaction of mangrove, seagrass ad coral reef communities. • Environmental education and training: The agency gives high priority to helping member governments through train ing courses, workshops and seminars, and distributes a variety of information. • Waste management and pollution control: SPREP includes several projects in its action plan dealing with the occupational and environmental hazards of pesticide use, the development of effluent and waste disposal standards for governments of the region. □