oceans. All the main islands are volcanic in Executive Summary origin and are surrounded by barrier, patch, lagoonal, and fringing reefs. !us, the !e Solomon Islands National Plan of Action smaller islands are mostly raised coral (SI-NPOA): Coral Triangle Initiative on islands and atolls. Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security State of the (CTI-CFF) provides visionary guidance for !e climate in the Solomon Islands is the management of coral reefs and related characterized by a wet and a dry season. !e ecosystems in the Solomon Islands (Ministry mean temperature experienced all year round Coral of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster is 27°C (80°F), but with a few extremes of Management and Meteorology and warm and cold temperatures. !e southeast trade winds (ara) blow continuously with Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, varying intensity during April to November, Triangle 2010). It is consistent with the CTI Regional while winds blow from west to northwest Plan of Action (RPOA), but also incorporates (koburu) from November to April. Tropical local situations and circumstances. Related cyclones and consequent strong winds are Report national initiatives, such as the Strategy for likely to occur from November to April. the Management of Inshore Fisheries and Marine Resources (Ministry of Fisheries and HIGHLIGHTS Marine Resources, 2010), complement the Biodiversity of coastal and actions outlined in the SI-NPOA. Another marine ecosystems important national initiative that !e Solomon Islands have one of the most complements the CTI NPOA is the diverse coral reef systems in the world. National Biodiversity Strategic and Action Such diversity is attributed to the highly Plan 2009. varied marine habitat types present throughout the islands. Physical Geography !e Solomon Islands form a double- Coral reefs and associated ecosystems. chained archipelago of approximately 990 Coral reefs are mainly fringing and islands, occupying a total land area of intermittent around all the islands, 28,000 km² and a total ocean area of although areas north and south of 1,340,000 km². !e six main islands are Guadalcanal appear to have no coral Choiseul, New Georgia, Santa Isabel, patches along the main island. Some of the Guadalcanal, Malaita, and Makira. !ey largest coral reef areas occur where large are mostly rugged and mountainous with lagoon complexes are protected by volcanic deep internal valleys and steep slopes that islands, raised islands, sand cays, and barrier descend immediately into the depths of the reefs. On the other hand, long barrier and expansive intertidal reef #ats are SOLOMON ISLANDS

For the people of Boe Boe in Choiseul , making the 3D model of their island motivated them to “take the initiative on community issues and ensure our traditions and customs are not compromised by development pressures or outside forces such as climate change.” Credit: James Hardcastle/TNC www.coraltriangleinitiative.net

ADB Regional Cooperation on Knowledge Management,[ Policy,1] and Institutional Support to the Coral Triangle Initiative cucumber species in the islands. In a In the Solomon Islands, there are benthic survey of macro-invertebrates, substantive policy documents that Key Statistics only 17 of the 19 recorded species of sea provide the framework for national cucumbers in the Solomon Islands were strategies in support of inshore $sheries observed, and those which command management, conservation, climate BIOPHYSICAL AND high prices were only observed in deep change adaptation, and ecosystem DEMOGRAPHIC locations. approaches to resource management. CHARACTERISTICS !e country is a party to several regional Mangrove forests are well-distributed and international environmental Total land area 28, 000 km2 across the Solomon Islands and occupy a agreements, which oblige it to protect, total area of about 65,000 ha. !ere Total sea area 1,340,000 km2 sustainably utilize, and manage coral occur 31 species, representing almost reefs and marine resources. half of the world’s mangrove species. 2 Total coral 3,591 km Communities in the Solomon Islands Laws, such as the Fisheries Act (1998), reef area rely on mangroves for food and wood, the Wildlife Protection and (NPOA, 2010) which is typically used for kindling and Management Act (1998), the Shipping construction. Act (1998), the Environment Act (1998), Total mangrove 65,000 ha and the Protected Areas Act (2010), area Seagrass beds are signi$cant coastal provide the legal basis for marine Total seagrass 10,000 ha habitats in the Solomon Islands, environmental protection, sustainable area occupying about 10,000 ha and utilization, and management of marine including at least 10 species, which natural resources. However, despite the Population 550,000 represent 80% of the known seagrass existence of laws and regulations, local (2011) species in the Indo-Paci$c region. Local compliance remains a challenge. Poor communities depend on seagrass beds Annual growth 2.3% compliance at the community level is for speci$c $sheries, as observed in Lau rate (2009) attributed to various factors such as the Lagoon in Malaita, where annual need to meet daily subsistence demands Fish 33 kg/ year spawning aggregations of rabbit$sh and the desire to generate a cash income. consumption (90% fresh occur on seagrass beds. Other factors include poor enforcement as well as a de$ciency in science-based !sh) Cetaceans, sirenians, reptiles. Large decision-making. marine vertebrates, including whales, dolphins, dugongs, and turtles, occur in Social and economic the Solomon Islands. Eight whale uncommon. At least 485 coral species importance of marine resources belonging to 76 genera have been observed species, nine dolphin species, and one in the Solomon Islands, with new species dugong species, as well as $ve species of and ecosystems being described. !e archipelago may be turtles and one species of crocodile have In 2011, Solomon Islands had a second only to Raja Ampat in Indonesia in been reported in the archipelago. population of 516,000 and an annual terms of coral diversity. population growth rate of 2.3% Governance !ere are 1,019 !sh species belonging (Solomon Islands National Statistics to 82 families reported in the Solomon Islands. Fish community composition and diversity are believed to be in#uenced by habitat type and food availability. Majority of sites with rich $sh species diversity are observed in the western part of the country.

Information on marine invertebrates like molluscs, sea cucumbers, and sponges is limited to their culture or economic value. Interest in sea cucumber species, for instance, is largely due to their high market value. Sea cucumber is an important commodity in the Solomon Islands, and a signi$cant income earner for people living in rural areas. Products are processed and exported to Asian markets, where they are sold for nearly the same prices as shark’s $n. However, the lucrative market Family members sell skip jack tuna at the Honiara market, Solomon has contributed to the decline of sea Islands. Credit: Greenpeace

2 [2] Office, 2011). !e population in the urban areas appears to be growing faster than that in the rural areas, primarily because of the rural-urban drift. Only 15.7% of the population is employed, while the rest are categorized as either subsistence or unpaid workers. About 80% of the population lives in rural areas; majority of the communities are found along the coast, while others are situated inland but have access to the sea.

A subsistence economy prevails in rural Solomon Islands, with coastal $sheries playing a vital role. !ere are no $gures on the actual extent of $shing activities in the country, let alone subsistence $shing, but it is estimated that nearly traditional belief systems and/or continue because they make substantial half of all women and 90% of men $sh. customs. contributions to the national revenue. In most rural households, at least one While coastal development for tourism member of each household is involved in !e growing population, the shift from a is not as pronounced in the Solomon $shing. Most rural $shers sell their subsistence to a cash economy, and Islands as in the other CT countries, catch solely to address household needs, changing beliefs have signi$cant impacts there is growing concern about coral but there are also $shers who sell their on the $sheries of the Solomon Islands. mining (e.g, Porites corals are extracted catch in urban areas. from reefs to build coastal structures Threats, vulnerabilities, and such as seawalls or seaward extensions). Commercial !sheries, particularly for emerging issues tuna, generated an average annual Emerging concerns include Major threats to coral reefs in the revenue of US$4.5 million for the transboundary issues, such as the Solomon Islands are over!shing and government from the licensing of transport of prohibited commodities destructive !shing. Issues expected to domestic and foreign #eets over the last across borders for sale and the lack of make substantial impacts on the marine decade. !e highest catch for domestic coordination in resource and species environment are pollution, runoff of #eets (29,615 tons)since 2000 was management for migratory species excessive nutrients, and coastal recorded in 2006. On the other hand, among countries. Mitigating against development. !e Solomon Islands are foreign #eets recorded the highest catch excesses in mariculture activities, also prone to natural disasters, such as of 89,275 tons in 2008. Total catch harmful algal blooms (HABs), marine earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and increased in this decade with the growth invasive species, and climate change tropical cyclones. !e occurrence of in the number of foreign #eets. On the hazards, like sealevel rise and increasing threatened species, such as whales and other hand, there has been a decrease in seasurface temperatures, are the other dolphins, also calls for management and the size of the domestic #eet. Tuna catch emerging issues. protection. over the past decade has been dominated The Solomon Islands National by skipjack and yellow$n tuna, mostly !e growing population will likely caught by foreign #eets. increase pressure on $sheries in the Plan of Action archipelago. In highly populated areas !e main mechanisms for traditional !e $ve-year SI-NPOA suggests a and market centers, heavy exploitation marine resource management are: (i) national strategy for CTI-CFF has led to observable declines in certain access control through customary marine Implementation through community- species like parrot$sh, sea cucumber, tenure (CMT); (ii) articulation of based approaches in resource giant clam, and green snail. Destructive traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) management with supporting themes of !shing involving both traditional and for resource management; (iii) legislation and policy, data and modern methods is concentrated within prohibition of access and exploitation of information management, and education Nggela, Langalanga Lagoon (Malaita), resources within culturally signi$cant and awareness raising (Ministry of and areas in Guadalcanal. Logging and geographical areas; and (iv) prohibition Environment, Climate Change, Disaster industrial-scale plantations have been of the consumption of certain species. Management and Meteorology and causing signi$cant sedimentation and As CMT regimes are inextricably linked Ministry of Fisheries and Marine runoff of excessive nutrients into the to the social and cultural contexts from Resources). !e Ministry of marine environment. Logging which they emerge, traditional practices Environment, Climate Change, Disaster operations, such as those occurring in relating to access control and/or Management and Meteorology Choiseul, Vella Lavella, Kolombangara, prohibitions vary within and across (formerly known as MECM) and the New Georgia, Malaita, Nggela, locales. !ese may be in#uenced by Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Guadalcanal, and Makira, are likely to

3 [3] adaptation projects are currently in progress, coordinated and/or managed by churches, non-government organizations (NGOs) and Priority Research Issues various government agencies.

Application of a total economic value In improving the conservation status of threatened species, the framework to coastal ecosystems Solomon Islands are guided by a number of national and international frameworks and strategies. Impacts of shift to cash economy on coastal In the Solomon Islands, the growing population will likely increase resource exploitation pressure on the country’s $sheries. Already, a decrease in catch among speci$c $sheries has been observed in highly populated areas Improvement of biodiversity assessment and market centers. Such a declining trend has negative implications on land and sea on food security for future generations. A study has shown that the estimated production from the entire national coastal $sheries Growth parameters of corals and resources may not be able to meet future demands of $sh needed for implications on development of food security, income, and good nutrition. However, regional and sustainable harvesting plan national initiatives, such as the CTI, have been developed to address the impacts on coral reefs and $sheries. For example, the SI-NPOA Studies on marine invasive species enumerates management actions consistent with the RPOA goals, aiming to conserve coral reefs to sustain ecosystem services, promote especially within ports, marinas and sustainable $sheries utilization, and assist in attaining food security. locations where logs are loaded onto ships Availability of Full Reports !is document is to be read as a supplement to the CD version Resources are the lead agencies responsible for its of the complete State of the Coral Triangle Report. implementation.

In relation to Goal 1, the Solomon Islands have prioritized the Contact Information Bismarck-Solomon Seas Ecoregion (BSSE). A Memorandum Rosalie Masu of Understanding (MOU) was signed in 2006 declaring a Deputy Director of Inshore Fisheries transboundary partnership among Indonesia (Papua), Papua Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources New Guinea (PNG), and the Solomon Islands. A regional Email: rmasu@$sheries.gov.sb action plan was developed to provide guidance in the conservation of the endangered leatherback turtle in the BSSE. Agnetha Vave-Karamui !e document engages the three countries in improving the CTI National Coordinator conservation of the leatherback through information sharing, Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, data exchange, and research. Disaster Management and Meteorology Email: [email protected] or !ere are presently no con$rmed policies and regulations [email protected] directly relating to ecosystem-based $sheries management (EAFM), but some EAFM principles are re#ected in the Fisheries Act (1998) and in $sheries regulations and embodied within the management plans for speci$c resources.

In improving the management of MPAs, the SI-NPOA recognizes customary ownership of marine tenure. !e use of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) is widely accepted in the Solomon Islands, building on local and traditional strengths in resource management and capturing communities’ perceptions of potential bene$ts. !e Solomon Islands LMMA (SILMMA) was established to coordinate management of marine resources.

For climate change adaptation, the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) was drafted in 2009 and identi$ed key vulnerable sectors in agriculture and food security; water supply and sanitation; education, awareness, Solomon Islands have 485 known species of corals from 76 genera and and information; human settlements; human possibly nine new species which brings the possible total number of coral health; waste management; $sheries and marine resources; infrastructure; and coastal species to 494. The photo above shows coral reefs encountered during the protection. A number of climate change REA in 2004. Credit: TNC

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