Climate Change, Sea–Level Rise and Coastal Biodiversity of Ghizo Island (Western Solomon Islands)

CLIMATE CHANGE, SEA–LEVEL RISE AND COASTAL BIODIVERSITY OF GHIZO ISLAND (WESTERN SOLOMON ISLANDS). by Mary Margarita Tahu A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Climate Change Copyright© 2011 by Mary Margarita Tahu School of Oceans and Islands Faculty of Science Technology and Environment The University of the South Pacific November, 2011 Acknowledgments My time at USP has been the most inspiring and enjoyable experience. I have many people, organisations and communities to acknowledge especially for their guidance and assistance to acquire insights, information, and experiences, which have broadened my view on the subject as well as overcome the many hurdles that I have encountered during the course of this thesis writing. I also wish to express my gratitude to God for his invisible love, provision, strength, and direction that sustained me to complete the thesis. My sincere gratitude goes to the University of the South Pacific, particularly the University Research Committee for the financial support that enabled me to carry out the research work at Ghizo Island in the Solomon Islands. Besides, the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development for giving me the opportunity to inspire me with knowledge and skills that contributed largely to this thesis writing. My sincere gratitude goes to my principal supervisor Professor Randy Thaman, who, besides his busy schedules, sacrifices his valuable time to go over my thesis. His style, clarity, honesty, commitment, and criticism have put this thesis writing in a right perspective and direction. I have learnt a lot from his supervision. Many thanks to the following people; Dr Cliff Bird, Dr Morgan Wairiu, Dr Helen Des Combe and Dr Eberhard Weber for making their time available to read the drafts of the chapters. Their comments and suggestions are valuable contributions to the writing of this thesis. I would also like to thank my two research assistants, Madelyn Sale and Late Morris Tora for their extensive assistance during my fieldwork in Ghizo. I am also indebted to the WWF for the financial support that made it possible for me to travel to Fiji to finalise my drafts with my principal supervisor. The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Meteorology, the Ministry of Lands department, the SOPAC in Fiji, World Fish Centre, and Red Cross deserve my gratitude for providing me with relevant information, data, and maps during the fieldwork. i I also wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to people in various communities in Ghizo whose local knowledge on coastal biodiversity has contributed to the data collection (see appendix 2) with a special mention of Shannon Seeto who made his time available to construct maps and make additional comments to the drafts of the thesis and Barbara Hau’ofa for editing the thesis. Last but not the least, I wish to register my hearty thanks to my family members, Ataban Tahu, Mareta Tahu, Atenia Tahu, Mereta Tahu, and Bezel Tahu for their support, prayers, advice, and encouragement. To those whom I may not have mentioned though they have contributed one way or the other towards the completion of this thesis, I would like to say Big Tagio Tumas. ii Abstract Climate change is a global challenge of this century. It poses serious threats to natural ecosystems and biodiversity. The Pacific is the most vulnerable region because of their small land masses, location in the routes of natural disasters, extensive coastlines, and dependency on marine resources. Ghizo Island, which encompasses the study sites of this research, is located in the Western Solomons. It has a tropical climate and is rich in biodiversity. The economy, which revolves around services, tourism, and sales of local products, exacerbates the impacts of climate change. This research work is to test the general hypothesis that the protection and management of coastal areas and biodiversity offer the great potential for communities to adapt to climate change and sea–level rise as well as specific hypotheses of 1) that climate change and associated environmental changes are happening and have been experienced, and the most highly affected areas are coastal ecosystems and settlements; 2) that human activities and human–induced environmental change exacerbate the impacts of climate and environmental change; and 3) that protection and management of coastal areas and coastal biodiversity offer great potential for adapting to and mitigating (reducing impacts) climate and environmental change on Ghizo Island. For purposes of testing these hypotheses, research methods used were literature review, questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, field observation, photography and mapping. The research finding indicates that the combination of the impact of climate change and human activities has already resulted in the damage, decline, and depletion of coastal vegetation; this has paved way for salt-water intrusion and inland flooding affecting inshore marine species and habitats. Coastal ecosystems and biodiversity are important in addressing climate and environmental change because they protect coastlines from coastal erosion, salt-water intrusion, and maintain resilience of coastal ecosystems and communities. However, only adaptive measures such as replanting and rehabilitation of coastal and marine ecosystems and species are effective to certain extent in Ghizo Island. iii For future research, there should be more quantitative studies on coastal biodiversity, ecology, traditional knowledge, and adequate funds for long term monitoring and collecting of data and information. iv List of abbreviations ADB–Asian Development Bank ATME–Antarctic Treaty Meeting of Experts BLI–Birdlife International CBD–Convention on Biological Diversity COTS–Crown-of-Thorns ENSO–El Niño Southern Oscillation FAO–Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GHG–Greenhouse Gases GMCA–Ghizo Marine Conservation Area ICZM–Integrated Coastal Zone Management IPCC–Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IUCN–World Conservation Union LMMAs–Locally Managed Marine Areas MPAs–Marine Protected Areas MSL–Mean Sea Level NGOs–Non-governmental organizations NTA–No-Take Areas PICs–Pacific Island Countries PIDCs–Pacific Island Developing countries SIDS–Small Island Developing States SLR–Sea–Level rise UNFCCC–United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change WB–World Bank WMO–World Meteorological Organization WWF–World Wildlife Fund v Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... i Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii List of abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... v List of figures ................................................................................................................................ xi List of tables ................................................................................................................................. xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background of research problem .......................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Global climate change: A threat to coastal biodiversity ................................................. 1 1.2.2 Climate change in the Pacific Islands ............................................................................. 3 1.2.3 Climate change in Solomon Islands ............................................................................... 5 1.3 Research area ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Brief overview of the geography of Solomon Island ...................................................... 6 1.3.2 Ghizo Island: Selection of study sites ............................................................................. 7 1.4 Aims and objectives .............................................................................................................. 8 1.5 Rationale of the research ....................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 10 1.7 Thesis structure and organization ........................................................................................ 11 CHAPTER 2 STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY ......................................................... 12 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 Location of Ghizo Island ..................................................................................................... 12 2.3 Topography and geology ..................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Climate ................................................................................................................................ 15 2.5 Flora ....................................................................................................................................

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