This postgraduate course focuses on the natural resources of the Pacific Islands which include biodiversity (terrestrial and marine), water, soils, minerals, geothermal energy, and others. Emphasis will be placed on the nature of human resource-use systems in the Pacific Islands; how these systems have affected terrestrial and marine resources; and actions that can be taken to protect natural resources and to promote environmentally and culturally sustainable development in the Pacific islands. Emphasis is also placed on obtaining a better understanding of the main concepts and recent trends in global Political Ecology, in particular UN agreements. We aim, for instance, to identify holistic, indigenous community-based approaches to preserving ecosystem services to illustrate Pacific leadership in the implementation of the various UN agreements, and to identify respective problems in the region.
- Lecturer: Sarah Pene