NEWSPAGE 11 March
2011

NEW ZEALAND: Pacific Nurses an investment in the future

(Photo: Pacific Asia Travel Association)

SAMOA: Samoa's Tavalea Nilon is PATA's 2011 Face of the Future
Source: Pacific Asia Travel Association

PATA is delighted to announce that Tavalea Nilon of Samoa is the winner of the 2011 ‘Face of the Future’ competition.

She was selected from a group of five finalists, with Sitpasu Thongsuk of Thailand and Hsu Htet Hlaing of Myanmar announced as runners-up.

Each of the finalists was required to put forward their views on the future of the tourism industry via a five-minute video presentation, which can be viewed below. The videos were judged by members of the PATA Executive Board during a meeting in Hawaii at the end of February.

This followed the first round of the competition, where nominated candidates were voted for online by PATA members.

There was a unanimous agreement by the panel of judges that Nilon’s video excelled in both presentation and content. Focussing on some of the key challenges facing Samoa’s tourism industry in the future, she highlighted the need for renewable energy options, better waste disposal methods and promoting the country as a culturally rich destination.

Said Hiran Cooray, chairman, PATA: “The PATA Executive Board were highly impressed by all six finalists, however, Tavalea’s video stood out. She showed a genuine understanding of the challenges faced by her small island nation, as well as the role she can play in helping to address them.”

Originally nominated for the competition by Samoa Tourism Authority, Nilon is ‘Miss Samoa 2010’ and has worked hard to promote the island nation nationally and internationally through tourism exchanges and festivals. She is involved with various community projects and is currently studying for a Masters’ degree in engineering. With a deep love for her environment, people and country, she has been described as a natural advocate for Samoa.

She will now be honoured at a special awards ceremony at the PATA 60th Anniversary and Conference, April 9-12, at the China World Hotel, Beijing. She will also have the opportunity to participate in a plenary session alongside luminaries such as senior government officials and industry leaders from across the spectrum of PATA membership.

Each year, ‘Face of the Future’ spotlights an individual, 35-years old or younger, who has worked to change or advance travel and tourism in Asia Pacific.

Photo Caption: Winner of the 2011 ‘Face of the Future’ competition, Tavalea Nilon.
 

(Photo: Paul Rudolph)

AMERICAN SAMOA: ASCC saves energy with solar panels
Source: American Samoa Community College Press Release

Although passers-by may not have noticed, during the early part of this year the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) had a crew from Island Energy & Marine atop the roofs of its main “Quad” area, hard at work installing several grids of solar panels. ASCC Director of Physical Facilities Management Kenape Aumavae says the panels are now up and running, contributing 70 kilowatts of electricity to the College, which translate into a savings of up to $30,000.00 per year on electrical bills.

“The panels took about a month to install,” said Aumavae, “but the work going on atop the roof of the Quad did not cause any kind of disruption. We had some initial difficulty integrating the panels with our regular electricity mechanism, but once ASPA helped us resolve this issue energy from the panels kicked in and the interface is now working fine.” ASCC funded the installation of the panels through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. “We would like to install more panels in the future,” said Aumavae. “For the time being, we feel we can set a successful precedent for integrating solar energy into American Samoa’s energy consumption, and hopefully this will lead to funding additional funding opportunities for even more panels.”

With its classrooms in use from the early morning till early evening, employees and students busily working on hundreds of computers, and air conditioning to keep the classrooms and offices bearable during the heat of the day, the College’s energy costs have considerably risen in recent years. ASCC has responded to this rise in costs by adopting a “green” approach to energy saving. This takes a number of forms, from replacing the bulbs in the nightlights at the College’s main entrance with more efficient and long-lasting models, to instituting a “dark” every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at which time all but essential ASCC personnel are instructed to turn off their computers, lights and air conditioning during lunch period. “With all of our energy saving efforts, we hope to find practices that work successfully not only for us, but for the whole of the public and private sectors,” said ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea’i.

In addition to the new solar panels, ongoing capital improvement projects at ASCC include the American Samoa Community Nutrition, Exercise, Health and Wellness Research Center now under construction at CNR/Land Grant, and the planned Multi-Purpose Building on the main campus which Aumavae says is “moving well” through the last stages of the pre-groundbreaking process. The Multi-Purpose Building, tentatively planned for the space beginning in front of the Cafeteria and extending to the site now occupied by the falesamoa, will include a new auditorium as well as areas for student activities and additional office space.

Photo Caption: The new solar panels of the roof of the "Quad" on the ASCC campus are clearly
visible in this long-distance photo. The solar panels, which will provide the College with substantial savings on electricity, were purchased through ARRA funding and installed earlier this year by Island Energy & Marine.
 

(Photo: Fiji Broadcasting Corporation)

FIJI: Fiji REDD-plus Policy launched
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

The Fiji REDD-Plus Policy was launched by the Permanent Secretary of Fisheries and Forests on Wednesday 09 March 2011 at the Holiday Inn, Suva, Fiji. The Fiji Cabinet, on 07 December 2010, endorsed the Fiji National REDD-plus Policy.

Fiji recognises REDD-plus as an opportunity to contribute towards global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen the socio-economic status of its forest resource owners and protect its forest ecosystems. The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)/ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Regional Programme Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Island Region is supporting Fiji in its efforts to engage in a REDD-plus carbon financing mechanism through a REDD-readiness programme.

The policy is a first for the region and the participatory development process solicited inputs from all relevant stakeholders. With the increasing interest in REDD-plus, the Policy is very timely as it provides a national framework for implementation to interested REDD project developers.

Fiji has a forest cover of almost 1.1 million hectares, covering about fifty-six percent of the total land mass. Forest clearance, largely attributed to agriculture, can be observed on parts of Fiji. The country also has large areas of degraded and unutilised lands which has potential for reforestation and afforestation to increase carbon stock.

Scientists estimate that deforestation and forest degradation account for around 20 percent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change. REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) is an approach aimed at reducing the 20 percent of emissions related to forests through financial incentives. Forests are generally regarded as a source for financial and economical gain (agriculture, logging, land development etc.) and this often takes precedence over forest conservation or sustainable management. The REDD-plus concept links financial incentives to forest conservation, sustainable management, and enhancing and increasing carbon stocks for credits for carbon emissions avoided and/or carbon sequestered.


Developing the Fiji REDD-Plus Policy

The first draft of the policy was developed during a consultation workshop where more than 50 stakeholders from various sectors and agencies came together to detail the country’s requirements to implement REDD-plus. An important exercise in this consultation was the identification of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The ‘drivers’ refer to the human causes of carbon stock change and identification is necessary for developing an effective REDD-plus strategy and for establishing appropriate monitoring systems for these drivers. In drafting the national REDD-plus Policy, participants defined the appropriate scope, scale, MRV approach, distribution of benefits, institutional support, and safeguards for the implementation of REDD-plus in the country. Safeguards include ensuring the full and effective participation of indigenous resource owners and local communities, consideration of gender issues, and the equitable distribution of benefits.

The draft REDD-plus Policy was finalised in July 2010 after intensive consultations, including the incorporation of relevant resolutions and recommendations from international meetings, and reviewing by international experts to ensure alignment with international policy language and developments.

Photo Caption: The Permanent Secretary Fisheries and Forests, Commander Viliame Naupoto who officially launched the REDD Plus Policy says there is a need to stop talking and to start working on the solutions to the inevitable problems of climate change.
 

(Photo: Solomon Times)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Sixteen confirmed for Pacific Games
Source: Solomon Star

The final sixteen national sports federations to compete in the upcoming Pacific Games have been named.

They are men’s soccer, athletics, boxing, taekwondo, lawn tennis, weightlifting, judo, karate, rugby sevens, triathlon, women soccer, rugby sevens, beach volleyball, swimming, table tennis (men), and basketball (men).

The National Olympic Committee of the Solomon Islands (NOCSI) has confirmed that the final list which consists of the sixteen sports that will participate in the games.

NOCSI president Fred Maetoloa confirmed to the Star Sports that the final list has been sent to New Caledonia.

“The names of the participating sports has been sent to the host country last two weeks after NOCSI announced that the cutoff date for the final listing was on February 27.

“Now that the final list has been sent, there will be no more inclusion nor be any subtraction to the final list,” he said.

Star Sports understands that a late elimination of any sport federation from the final list will result in a fine to the host country.

The only possibility is for NOCSI is to cut the number of athletes to participate if they all are not prepared for the games, but must send at least an athlete to represent each 16 sports named to take part in the Games.

Last year NOCSI first released the eight names of sports federations to take part in this year’s Pacific Games in New Caledonia.

They are athletics, boxing, taekwondo, lawn tennis; weightlifting, judo, karate and football (men) were announced last year by National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI).

These eight federations were selected following assessment by the national selection justification committee because they are medal prospect.

Past performances of the sports federations in various international outings have also been taken into account as part of NOCSI’s selection criteria.

Also apart those that received green light are federations such as basketball (men), table tennis (men), beach volleyball (men), bodybuilding, golf (two athletes) and swimming (three athletes).

These sports have also been given participation chances but conditioned upon raising their level of competitiveness to win medals for the country next year, according to the justification committee.

They will also be part of the contingent but will be continuously monitored by the Justification Committee.

Rugby Seven was then one of the codes that made late submission to the committee for consideration.

Ronald Talasasa explained late last year that NOCSI has noted that there has been an issue with their national federation (IRB) and the Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF).

After the issue was sorted out, NOCSI was lenient enough to give the green light to participate in the games.

Triathlon did not present any justification last year and so they were left out in the initial assessment.

The selection was finalized after the latest submission was received from triathlon last December and forwarded to the endorsement of the NOCSI Board.

Triathlon and football women were the latest inclusions.

For the women soccer despite being defeated for the finals last year has performed well enough to convince the justification committee.

According to the national selection and justification committee (NSJC) Jenny Lakoa, each sport federation must note that this is the final list.

Most of all listed sports federations have kicked off with their preparation in early January.

The NSJC commended the sports that have started trainings and warned those that are yet to do so that their numbers may be cut if they fail to demonstrate any level of medal contention.

Photo Caption: National Olympic Committee of the Solomon Islands President, Fred Maetoloa.
 

WORLDWIDE: UNDP & USP partner to enhance sustainable development in the Pacific
Source: United Nations Development Programme Press Release

The University of the South Pacific (USP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday (March 08, 2011) launched a long term partnership to strengthen sustainable development in the Pacific. The partnership focuses on four key pillars: increasing knowledge sharing between the two organizations; starting an internship programme for USP students with the UNDP; sharing technical expertise and jointly raising awareness in the Pacific on development issues.

Speaking at the launch, the Vice Chancellor and President of USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra said that the partnership would result in enhancing sustainable development in the Pacific.

“Better educated and well-rounded graduates are best placed to make decisions that enable development over the long-term. By addressing the concept of sustainability in all academic areas, the University, with its technical and academic expertise, is training the youth of the region to be mindful of the impacts of their decisions on future generations,” said Professor Rajesh Chandra.

“Most of the regions’ leaders and professionals have been educated at the University, and we remain committed to ensuring not only the provision of higher education and knowledge, but also assisting countries in policy and technical areas,” said Professor Chandra.

Toily Kurbanov, the UNDP Resident Representative ai said the USP and UNDP shared many similarities, that included both being started in the 1960s (UNDP in 1965 and USP in 1968), both being owned by member countries and both being committed to development and to building and spreading knowledge in their constituencies.

“UNDP and USP share common understanding that most effective public awareness effort, most sustainable capacity building and most promising policy discussions will be those that have foundation in interactive exchange of ideas, in an open debate that brings together all arguments and allows to build consensus or at least to find points of agreements,” said Mr Kurbanov.

“We see our partnership with USP being an opportunity to devise better ways to respond to the ever expanding challenges of the region - the partnership should help ensure our policy advice is grounded on solid development evidence and on sound analytical research,” he said.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion on “Temporary Special Measures: a Priority for Increasing the number of Women in Pacific Parliaments”. The panel discussion concluded that while Pacific countries should still implement long-term strategies to address cultural, social and economic barriers to women’s election to Pacific parliaments, temporary special provide a quick, short-term option for immediately increasing women’s representation.