Environment
Bag and sculpture comps for conservation
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
The National Environment Service (NES) has organised two events on Rarotonga to celebrate Environment Week, and the NES pa enua offices have also developed their own programmes. NES encourages all Cook Islands residents to get involved and enter a sculpture of a sea creature made from recycled materials into a nationwide competition. Participants will be […]
Celebrate the environment
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
Nikao Maori School students, Grade Seven and Eight, share more of their creative writing with us this week. Environment Week also begins today, so for the next two weeks the Kids Page will feature word puzzles with an environmental theme, supplied by the National Environment Service. The National Environment Service also has some T-shirts to […]
Local effort
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
The Rarotonga Lagoon Conservation Trust, created and funded by Koka Lagoon Cruises, is embarking on a long-term reef restoration and revitalisation project within the Tikioki ra’ui. Koka has collected healthy corals, which are ready to be attached to the reef, where they can spawn and where snorkelers can ogle them. Marine biologist Tina Weier, who […]
Silt shuts sub
Saturday 2 June 2012 | Published in Environment
Silt from the Avatiu Port dredging operation has covered the ocean floor from Avatiu to Tupapa, worrying tourist operators. Raro Reef Sub co-owner Sheryl John, who takes tourists out to the reefs in a semi-submarine she runs with husband Huw, says for the last couple of days the water visibility has been so bad they […]
Toa fuels fire again
Thursday 31 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Toa Petroleum was recently caught illegally storing fuel at General Transport’s recycling centre in Tutakimoa. Ministry of Internal Affairs labour director Helen Maunga said she followed up a report that Toa was storing petrol on the site, and found they were. ”I followed this up with Toa Petroleum a couple of weeks ago as they […]
NES 'wide open to a lawsuit'
Thursday 31 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Environmental group Te Ipukarea Society believes the National Environment Service and the Rarotongan Environment Authority are leaving themselves ”wide open to a lawsuit“ in regards to the Toa Petroleum relocation. In their recent submission against the relocation of Toa to the Nikao foreshore, Te Ipukarea Society Incorporated (TIS) states the National Environment Service (NES) and […]
Climate change and disaster risk assessment for Atiu
Monday 28 May 2012 | Published in Environment
A team of four from Rarotonga consisting of representatives from the National Environment Service (NES), Cook Islands Red Cross, and the Emergency Management Cook Islands (EMCI) and Climate Change Cooks Islands (CCCI) divisions from the Office of the Prime Minister is on Atiu carrying out an island vulnerability and adapation assessment. The team will be […]
Toa relocation 'a disaster waiting to happen'
Friday 25 May 2012 | Published in Environment
A formal objection by Te Ipukarea Society terms the contentious relocation of Toa Petroleum to the Nikao foreshore ”a disaster waiting to happen“. After reviewing the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), published on April 7, Te Ipukarea Society Incorporated (TIS) – along with four other objectors – made a written submission to the National Environment Service […]
Japan wants Pacific to be a 'peaceful ocean'
Friday 25 May 2012 | Published in Environment
The Japanese government says it is committed to maintaining peace and fostering sustainable fishing in the Pacific Ocean. Renowned for its diet of fish and seafood, Japan is looking in particular for ways to ensure the sustainability of its fish supply. ”This is very important for us because as a nation we have been relying […]
Quake spurs renewable energy commitment
Friday 25 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Japan intends to include Pacific nations in its own journey to discover and perfect renewable energy technologies. Japan’s deputy secretary to cabinet Noriyuki Shikata told Pacific journalists this week that his government is actively looking for ways to reduce its country’s reliance on fossil fuels in general, and on nuclear energy in particular. Following Japan’s […]
Clean tanks for cleaner lagoon
Thursday 24 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Muri Lagoon could be sparkling clean thanks to the new sanitation systems now going inTO the ground in the Muri and Avana areas. The second system was successfully finished on Tuesday, under a programme designed to improve the quality of groundwater flowing from residential properties into the Muri Lagoon. Through the Waste Management Initiative (WMI) […]
Recycling challenge in Environment Week
Thursday 24 May 2012 | Published in Environment
For the first week of June, the Cook Islands will recognise National Environment Week which coincides with the UN World Environment Day on June 5 annually. A number of initiatives are scheduled for Environment Week including the Recycled Sculptures competition targeted at the older generation rather than school children this year. As part of the […]
Lagoon Day grows, shifts to Arorangi
Thursday 24 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Lagoon Day is shaping up to be bigger and better this year. Scheduled for July 12 and 13, the festival will be open to the public. Organisers want to remind the community that while Lagoon Day is typically attended by school kids, it is a useful and enlightening resource for people of all ages. Dates […]
Vaka voyagers speak at college
Tuesday 22 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Pacific Voyagers visited Tereora College to inspire the future leaders of the nation in the huge importance of preserving the environment – both land and sea. Voyagers shared first-hand accounts of some of the environmental issues they’ve faced while voyaging on Moana Nui o Kiva; from floating islands of rubbish to rescuing choking turtles and […]
FAD rules
Saturday 19 May 2012 | Published in Environment
1. Tying to the FAD A maximum of 4 boats may tie to the FAD. No boat over 6 meters in length may tie to the FAD. 2.Harpooning There shall be no harpooning within a 2 kilometer radius of the FAD. 3. Drifting Longline Buoy Fishing Each fisher may deploy a maximum of 2 drifting […]
Toa scheme faces 5 objections
Friday 18 May 2012 | Published in Environment
Five separate individuals have formally objected to Toa Petroleum setting up shop on the Nikao foreshore. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) report analysing the environmental and social implications of Toa’s relocation was published on April 7, and the public had 30 days to make written submissions to the National Environment Service (NES) if they harboured […]
Roadside rubbish an issue up hospital hill
Tuesday 15 May 2012 | Published in Environment
For 35 years Dianne Dorrell has been picking up roadside rubbish on Rarotonga, and she has had enough. Dorrell and neighbour Len Edwards live on hospital hill and they have taken it upon themselves over the years to clean up the mess that others leave behind. This means clearing away the beer bottles, cans and […]
Organic farming venture advanced
Monday 14 May 2012 | Published in Environment
A successful public-private partnership in Cook Islands is helping the country realise its plans to revitalise agriculture by developing organic farming. The partnership was last week highlighted at a meeting of the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom) in Papeete, French Polynesia. The Cook Islands delegation was led by associate minister of agriculture Kiriau […]
Moringa plantation launched
Monday 14 May 2012 | Published in Environment
The first moringa oleifera plantation on Rarotonga was launched on Wednesday morning with light showers of rain at the time deemed a blessing on the project. The nutritional benefits of the moringa oleifera plant were discovered by Mauke resident Hugh Graham when he was researching stock feed for his goat project on the island. On […]
CI to benefit from biodiversity project
Thursday 10 May 2012 | Published in Environment
A US$1.7 million project to conserve island biodiversity in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu was launched at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa. Under this three-year initiative the island nations will carry out a range of activities with their local communities to produce and strengthen management actions […]