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... Polychlorinated biphenyl contamination from the US military base in Kwajalein has threatened residents of nearby Ebeye for decades (Marcoux, 2022). Across the Pacific, globalization weakens traditional knowledge, and local adaptive capacities developed in response to changes in local social-ecological systems may struggle to adjust to changes originating in global political, economic, and environmental systems (Klöck and Nunn, 2019;Lauer et al., 2013). Considering Pacific Islands' limited influence over political and economic decisions driving exposures, island populations may be unable to block external influences or reduce effects (Fernandes and Pinho, 2017). ...
... Across the Pacific, cash work on outer islands often revolves around copra production, introduced and promoted by foreign traders and missionaries from the mid-1800s (Lepowsky, 1991). This monoculture cash cropping for export replaced diversified and resilient subsistence food systems and undermined traditional adaptive practices of food preservation and storage (Campbell, 2015;Lauer et al., 2013;Nunn and Kumar, 2018). Copra production also reduced local autonomy, reshaped landscapes and customs, and created new hierarchies around cash livelihoods (Chambers and Chambers, 2000;Lepowsky, 1991;Rollason, 2014;Rudiak-Gould, 2013). ...
... In the RMI, as throughout the Pacific, conviviality is intertwined with subsistence lifestyles, with the sharing of food and resources a social requirement that levels access across residents (Berman, 2020;Chambers and Chambers, 2000;Pollock, 1992;Rudiak--Gould, 2013). However, during and since colonialism, local systems of support and traditions of giving have been lost or degraded, replaced by imported foods and emergency aid that reduce local adaptive capacities and create dependency (Campbell, 2015;Lauer et al., 2013;Weir et al., 2017). ...
Article
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Popular media often positions the Marshall Islands as especially vulnerable to environmental shocks and shifts. This framing overlooks sources of vulnerability, local resilience, and within country differences. To better understand relationships between social, economic, and cultural shifts and vulnerability and resilience in the Marshall Islands, this study draws on interviews with internal migrants and members of government and civil society to investigate perceptions of vulnerability and resilience in outer islands and Majuro. Findings reveal sharp perceived differences. Participants largely tied vulnerability on outer islands to increasingly variable environmental conditions affecting natural resource-dependent livelihoods and vulnerability on Majuro to the cash economy. In both urban core and rural outer islands, participants linked vulnerability to interdependencies far beyond the Marshall Islands. By evaluating historical and external influences and spatial heterogeneity, this study supports a nuanced understanding of vulnerability and resilience within archipelagic countries critical to policy development.
... These social networks can expand within and across islands and nations, promoting intra-island, inter-island as well as international (e.g. remittances) resource redistribution and cooperation (Lauer et al. 2013;Granderson 2017). ...
... These kinds of kinship and community networks and efforts are critical as several participants noted that the "Recovery Effort Assistance was slow in coming to the assistance of our people" (Participant #9, 2020); an issue that seems to be rife in the Pacific context (see Nakamura and Kanemasu 2020). As similarly observed in other studies focused on the Pacific (see Granderson 2017; Nakamura and Kanemasu 2020), these processes of intra-island and international exchange and resource redistribution highlight the importance of social and kinship networks for buffering disturbance and speeding up recovery, and thus enhancing resilience (Campbell 2009;Lauer et al. 2013). ...
... construction material, foods, fertile land) which mitigates differences in climate challenges (e.g. Campbell 2009;Lauer et al. 2013) and place-based agricultural strategies for managing resource availability and climate hazards (e.g. use of specific crops and planting in different soils). ...
Article
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Catastrophic extreme weather events are destructive, costly, and bring about significant harm and distress. As a consequence of a warming world, extreme weather is only expected to increase in intensity. Unravelling the ways that frontline communities, such as those in the Cook Islands, are experiencing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from, extreme events over time is vital to document, learn from, and share widely. This paper, drawing from 10 interviews with local Cook Islanders from both urban and remote settings, explores people’s perspectives and experiences of, as well as responses to, extreme weather events, with a focus on droughts and cyclones. We found that the immediate devastation of cyclones and the chronic devastation of droughts has impacted participants in diverse ways, most of which take an emotional toll and affect people’s abilities to meet household needs. These participant experiences with extreme weather events and the subsequent lessons that have transpired have led to the development of significant local knowledge and traditional coping strategies which enable anticipation, preparation, and adaptation. We highlight the ways that participants draw on cosmology, worldviews, and community resources for different courses of action in response to extreme weather. Tacit knowledge and endogenous spiritual and community resources offer Cook Islanders agency, hope and resilience in the face of climate change into the future.
... How the Simbo community responded to the tsunami of 2007 further shows the significance of leadership that aligns with local social capital and cultural norms. The rapid organization of a local disaster relief committee ensured successful dissemination of goods and medical aid to households (Lauer et al. 2013). This effective response relied on systems of exchange and labour sharing between groups and high levels of social capital. ...
... This effective response relied on systems of exchange and labour sharing between groups and high levels of social capital. Village life on Simbo is underpinned by varivagana -a term that connotes the norm of generosity and reciprocal obligations, love, concern for others, and the prioritisation of community over individual resource accumulation (Lauer et al. 2013). ...
... The Simbo Disaster Management Central Committee (SDMCC), formed just hours after the tsunami, was made up of three educated men, with either college degrees or experience in the national government. In this sense, they were not traditional leaders, but nevertheless worked closely with the support of village chiefs and church leaders (Lauer et al. 2013). This illustrates Simbo' s progress is not only linked to local cultural values, and the social capital that drives collaboration between leaders, but also connectedness with opportunities off the island (Lauer et al. 2013). ...
Technical Report
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"... there is untapped potential in better understanding when and how local leaders work together to co-produce goods and services that benefit whole communities".
... Moreover, social and cultural capital, among other factors, are critical elements to alleviate the impact of endogenous and exogenous events. From a systems perspective (Adger, 2000;Berkes et al., 1998;Folke, 2006), 'resilience' thinking encompasses ecological and social components as intertwining processes (Lauer et al., 2013). The capacity of socio-ecology systems may be increased or decreased, with social capital being a determining factor (Romero and Vidal, 2015). ...
... Many challenges for commercial small-scale coastal fisheries have emerged in recent decades under different guises (e.g., recreational fisheries, coastal and marine tourism) (Lloret et al., 2018), but they do not always lead to a loss of resilience (Nicolosi et al., 2021). Moreover, examples of the importance of social and cultural capital in enhancing the resilience of coastal communities when they are confronted with natural disasters include cases in Chile (Marín et al., 2012(Marín et al., , 2015, Japan (Koshimura and Shuto, 2015;Sun and Sun, 2019), and the Solomon Islands (Aswani and Lauer, 2014;Lauer et al., 2013), among others. More recently, in the COVID-19 pandemic context, food sharing examples (Bennett et al., 2020), investments in bringing local produce back to communities (Wood, 2020), and innovative market solutions (Villasante et al., 2021) have been identified in different coastal communities around the world. ...
... In the face of rapid changes and events, coastal communities and small-scale fishers are often immediately hard hit. But, being affected so fast, they may also rebound relatively quickly, demonstrating specific adaptive capacities, such as social networks (e.g., Chile), which may sustain the overall resilience of the system (Lauer et al., 2013;Marín et al., 2012). ...
Article
Small-scale coastal fishing communities are facing many new challenges, such as rapid ecological changes created by anthropogenic and natural events like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. This paper explores how a coastal population has responded to such an event and highlights the diverse coping strategies used to tackle it. This research was conducted on the island of El Hierro (Spain), where a submarine volcanic eruption occurred in 2011, affecting a multiple-use Marine Protected Area (MPA) and the nearby fishing community of La Restinga. Our study illustrates how the local population coped with this situation by combining multiple monetary and non-monetary activities (e.g., informal exchanges) as well as the role of institutions in increasing local resilience by supporting fishers' demands and allowing their participation in the decision-making process in the immediate wake of a catastrophic event. Local families also exploited various natural resources in and near the MPA, thus ensuring access to crucial marine resources and continued recreational/cultural services. The results suggest that collective action played a key role in the recovery process after the eruption, creating some advantages for different local groups despite the hazardous nature of the event.
... In the context of Pacific Island nations, adaptive capacity has been linked to factors including community cohesion, good leadership, and religious participation (e.g., [78]). Levels of resilience and adaptive capacity thus vary across the Pacific [6,19,58], and previous shocks produced by massive disturbances reveal levels of system resilience and conditions that result in some small island communities being more able to adapt than others [1,6,33,41]. ...
... Adaptive capacity in small islands communities varies widely [19,58], and shocks produced by massive disturbances reveal variable levels of system resilience [1,6,33,41]. We found that responses to the food Table 1. ...
... The authors noted how the reciprocal exchange of resources and knowledge can serve as a mechanism that enables coping and recovery after major disturbances. In a case study from the Solomon Islands, Lauer et al. [58] documented that, in response to a devastating tsunami in 2007, the ethic of reciprocal exchange and sharing strengthened, conferring resilience. This was consistent with our observations that, where possible, people across the Pacific relied on sharing foods with one another. ...
Chapter
COVID-19 brought several challenges to Solomon Islands, including disruption to food markets, job insecurity, and increased circulation of people from urban to rural areas. Their impacts on food security were evaluated through rapid appraisal with community leaders in Malaita and Western Province. Coastal fisheries continued to provide a key source of food, and community-based resource management held significant capability for adaptation. Agriculture expanded, particularly focusing on traditional root crops. Where women were involved in community-based fisheries management, sustainable solutions were effective. Local fisheries management capacities raised the profile of rural women in fisheries and supported measures that increased capacity in fisheries development and management at the village level, responding to the harmful economic situation in a country where natural hazards are not unusual.
... Scholars have not adequately addressed this situation, despite the importance of the small business community to the development of the tourism industry on remote islands. Literature does address resilience capabilities in communities confronted by external disturbances on small remote islands, including the trade-offs they face (Lauer et al., 2013) and the social processes they go through to build collective resilience (Schwarz et al., 2011). However, these types of studies focus at a level of general system resilience, rather than resilience in at the level of small businesses. ...
... Samui Island had transitioned from a backpacker resort to an upscale one. Lauer et al. (2013), on the other hand, discuss a paradox in remote pacific islands attributable to broader globalization. Globalization can aggravate small remote islands' vulnerability to natural disasters by altering habitat characteristics but it also can improve educational capabilities and experiences, including how to manage information and execute recovery processes (Lauer et al., 2013). ...
... Lauer et al. (2013), on the other hand, discuss a paradox in remote pacific islands attributable to broader globalization. Globalization can aggravate small remote islands' vulnerability to natural disasters by altering habitat characteristics but it also can improve educational capabilities and experiences, including how to manage information and execute recovery processes (Lauer et al., 2013). ...
... This, in combination with biophysical and geographical specificities such as insularity, environmental dynamics and governance choices, often makes tourist destinations vulnerable to issues of water stress. Considering the vulnerability to water stress interacting with resilience as 'a set of related antagonisms' (Propeck-Zimmermann et al., 2018) at different spatiotemporal scales (Turner et al., 2003), the role of water management and governance can be perceived as a negotiation among vulnerability and resilience trade-offs, within and beyond tourism, towards the framing of sustainable and flexible long-term development adaptation pathways (Lauer et al., 2013;. This understanding of an island's vulnerability to water stress makes clear that a traditional command-and-control, purely technical approach to water resource management and governance is insufficient. ...
... This kind of uncertainty is considered a challenge, given that adaptations are nested within complex social-ecological systems. In this regard, adaptations usually comprise both opportunities and threats, which may bring up vulnerability and resilience trade-offs and lead to unpredictable or unsustainable development trajectories (Lauer et al., 2013). However, adaptation problems are often more complex than this, as they involve multiple decision makers with unequal power, competing values, and diverse goals and knowledge (Wise et al., 2014). ...
... Adaptations to multiple drivers of change encompass opportunities and threats and may bring up trade-offs, diminishing the exposure to some hazards but indirectly increasing the exposure to others, or bringing up new ones in the long run (Lauer et al., 2013). Eriksen et al. (2011, p. 2) argued for the importance of integrating adaptation research and practice with sustainable development, defining sustainable adaptation as 'adaptation that contributes to socially and environmentally sustainable pathways, including both social justice and environmental integrity'. ...
Article
Approaches to decision making for adaptation need to be place-centred and to consider the interacting changes that occur at different spatiotemporal scales. Τhe adaptation pathways approach provides an interesting input to this end. In this article, we fine-tune the adaptation pathways considerations to the management and governance of water in tourist islands vulnerable to water stress. We base our analysis on literature on climate change, adaptive Integrated Water Resources Management and governance, water and tourism, and social-ecological systems. We illustrate our theoretical analysis with the example of the Southern Aegean islands in Greece, based on secondary sources and interviews with stakeholders.
... Sejauh ini secara teknik, penelitian terkait dengan penilaian resiliensi SES masih berupa informasi titik (point) saja, belum ada indikator dan parameter yang dapat menyajikan resiliensi dalam bentuk poligon (Sangaji 2012). Lauer et al. (2013) dan Adrianto dan Matsuda (2002) juga menambahkan bahwa banyak penelitian dibutuhkan untuk mengidentifikasi dan menggolongkan dinamika kompleksitas sistem dari resiliensi, kerentanan, resiko bencana dan perubahan lingkungan dengan metode komperehensif. Untuk itu, perencanaan spasial benar-benar dibutuhkan, agar pembuat kebijakan dapat bertanggung jawab secara ekologi tentang pemanfaatan-pemanfaatan baru di suatu kawasan, jika tidak maka pengelolaan akan dipengaruhi oleh peningkatan permintaan ruang (Douvere dan Ehler 2009 Meningkatnya popularitas wisata di Gili Matra secara langsung membuat ledakan populasi penduduk pulau. ...
... Resiliensi ekologi memungkinkan untuk mengidentifikasi indikator-indikator dan sinyal peringatan dini dari tekanan lingkungan (Holling 1973). Selanjutnya, antara akhir tahun 1970-an dan 1990-an, penelitian resiliensi mulai fokus terhadap perluasan definisi resiliensi ekologi yang menginvestigasi apakah resiliensi ekologi dapat diaplikasikan untuk sistem manusia di bawah payung resiliensi SES (proses-proses interpenetrating) (Folke 2006;Lauer et al. 2013), untuk menggambarkan kerangka analitik (Lauer et al. 2013). ...
... Resiliensi ekologi memungkinkan untuk mengidentifikasi indikator-indikator dan sinyal peringatan dini dari tekanan lingkungan (Holling 1973). Selanjutnya, antara akhir tahun 1970-an dan 1990-an, penelitian resiliensi mulai fokus terhadap perluasan definisi resiliensi ekologi yang menginvestigasi apakah resiliensi ekologi dapat diaplikasikan untuk sistem manusia di bawah payung resiliensi SES (proses-proses interpenetrating) (Folke 2006;Lauer et al. 2013), untuk menggambarkan kerangka analitik (Lauer et al. 2013). ...
Thesis
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Small islands have limited natural resources, isolated and remote from mainland as territorial areas, and exposed to natural disasters, so that, they have special characteristics and vulnerabilities to global, regional and local influences. Therefore, the resilience, vulnerability and carrying capacity of the area are important to understand as the basis for forming appropriate management and sustainable. The study aims to assess spatial resilience in small islands, with an integrated social-ecological system (SES) framework using the analysis methods of vulnerability, carrying capacity, adaptive capacity and adaptive cycles based on historical and model approaches. The results of study showed that the spatial changes affected the dynamics of the spatial resilience variables on the Gili Matra Islands, both for biocapacity (BC), spatial ecological footprint (SEF), connectivity index (CI) and spatial heterogeneity (SH). The Gili Matra Islands had a resilient level from moderate to non-resilient, and had adaptive capacity from high to moderate (one to six years). The variables that had good adaptive capacity were CI and SH variables, although the BC variable also indicated good adaptive capacity. Based on the assessment and simulation, the total value of resilience in Gili Ayer Island ranged from 0.566551 to 0.51322 (moderate), Gili Meno Island ranged from 0.604796 to 0.608992 (resilient) and Gili Trawangan Island ranged from 0.326409 to 0.142658 (low resilient to non-resillent). Based on the value of resilience variables, the Gili Matra Islands were in the reorganization phase for Gili Ayer Island and Gili Meno Island, and exploitation phase for Gili Trawangan Island in adaptive resilience cycles. This condition confirms that Gili Ayer and Meno Island ware re-arranging spatial structures and existing development directions, namely small island tourism, which showed the development activities, while for Gili Trawangan Island described the development and growth of intensive tourism. Therefore, management efforts must be carried out so that the existing phases can be passed, so the system does not focus on the exploitation phase alone, without passing through the conservation, release and reorganization phases, so that the spatial system can be resilient and sustainable development can be achieved. Generally, the study can be concluded that the Gili Matra Region have vulnerability level from low into moderate, however, with the bad conditions of Coastal Water Quality Indeks (CWQI), the high of EF and the low of BC, and the results of land changes simulation, then a vulnerability status will immediately increases from time to time. They are approved by adaptive capacity assessment, which is relatively small and need a long time from tipping point, and are confirmed by resilience assessment results, that is low.
... Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is an example of how unique behaviour specific to particular communities can improve their livelihood strategies. It allows communities to anticipate change in weather (Lauer et al., 2013), and dictates how and when natural resources are harvested (Colding et al., 2003). Locally relevant LEK has the ability to contribute towards lowering vulnerability within a particular community, but may not necessarily result in similar outcomes being achieved when applied within different socio-ecological systems. ...
... Customary systems of community organization and leadership are recognized as important sources of vulnerability deterrents throughout PINs by promoting cooperation and exchange of goods and services (Campbell, 2009). For example, the rapid organization of a local disaster relief committee ensured that goods and medical aid was successfully disseminated to households after a tsunami struck Simbo in Solomon Islands (Lauer et al., 2013). Although the characteristics of leadership, community cohesion, gender equity, decision making and equal access to resources, among others, has been individually recognized as important community characteristics in Solomon Islands and elsewhere (e.g., Schwarz et al. 2011), it is necessary to pair these as collective attributes of social capital and frame them in the context of vulnerability. ...
... Previous indications of social capital in Solomon Islands is provided by Lauer et al. (2013). These authors noticed an increase in sharing of food and building materials within communities after a tsunami struck Simbo Island in 2012. ...
Article
Rural island communities are generally regarded as the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change. This perception arises due to them often being in less developed areas with high levels of exposure to stressors, while reportedly lacking the means to cope with these stressors. Studies which use developed-country yardsticks, such as those used in past IPCC-based assessments, when measuring vulnerability in less developed states will however inevitably over-pronounce its effects in such areas. The sustainable livelihoods approach provides an alternate means of determining vulnerability using capital assets such as social capital. The presence of these assets enables communities to pursue diverse livelihood strategies which ultimately serve to reduce their vulnerability. This study seeks to measure attributes of social capital in five marine dependent communities of Solomon Islands. This was done through a questionnaire survey of 110 respondents, which comprised of 15 questions related to social capital. Question scores were equally balanced and also contributed equally to each of the five indicators of social capital identified in the literature-namely community cohesion, gender equity, leadership, decision making, and equal access to services and resources. The results indicated an overall social capital vulnerability score of 0.379, where 0 indicates the lowest possible vulnerability score and 1 the most vulnerable. Community cohesion decreased vulnerability the most within these communities, followed by gender equity, leadership, equal access to services and resources and decision making. Our results indicate a high degree of social capital in Solomon Islands communities, and therefore its importance as an inherent measure for households to cope with both climate and non-climate related stressors. Climate change directed policy should therefore be developed with the aim of preserving social capital as it provides a culturally embedded means of deterring vulnerability, at the risk of more expensive and possibly less pragmatic alternative measures.
... Scholars have not adequately addressed this situation, despite the importance of the small business community to the development of the tourism industry on remote islands. Literature does address resilience capabilities in communities confronted by external disturbances on small remote islands, including the trade-offs they face (Lauer et al., 2013) and the social processes they go through to build collective resilience (Schwarz et al., 2011). However, these types of studies focus at a level of general system resilience, rather than resilience in at the level of small businesses. ...
... Samui Island had transitioned from a backpacker resort to an upscale one. Lauer et al. (2013), on the other hand, discuss a paradox in remote pacific islands attributable to broader globalization. Globalization can aggravate small remote islands' vulnerability to natural disasters by altering habitat characteristics but it also can improve educational capabilities and experiences, including how to manage information and execute recovery processes (Lauer et al., 2013). ...
... Lauer et al. (2013), on the other hand, discuss a paradox in remote pacific islands attributable to broader globalization. Globalization can aggravate small remote islands' vulnerability to natural disasters by altering habitat characteristics but it also can improve educational capabilities and experiences, including how to manage information and execute recovery processes (Lauer et al., 2013). ...
Article
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We investigate how small businesses in a very remote island tourist destination are able to cope with shocks and disruptions they face, that is, their resilience. Given their size and resource limitations as well as disadvantages due to lack of accessibility and remoteness, we expect resilience in these types of firms to be underpinned by their close relationships with other local stakeholders. Drawing on concepts from Instrumental Stakeholder Theory (IST), we explore how close relationship capabilities with stakeholders affect small business resilience on the remote tourist destination of St Helena. Through in-depth interviews with the owner-managers of seven case firms on the island we identify how aspects of IST are relevant to resilience, while also uncovering emerging variables of interest. To make sense of these variables we use a Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) approach, capturing respondents’ mental models in graphical form. The result supports IST by reinforcing the positive effects of valuable partners and mutually beneficial interaction with valuable partners, as well as a negative impact of the cost of managing relationships. However, negative impacts of logistical costs and, surprisingly, the role of government policy on resilience are also identified. Implications for research and policy are discussed.
... Social-ecological studies that showed the strongest interest in linking research to resilience or sustainability predominantly had multiple themes, of which social welfare, climate change, governance, biodiversity and ecosystem services were the most popular. For example, Lauer et al. (2013) and Wairiu (2017) aimed to identify management strategies that increased resilience of different ecosystems to climate change, and avenues of sustainable resource use were compared by Erickson and Gowdy (2000) and Read (2006). ...
... Pathways for (sustainable) development, such as those that are outlined within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations 2015) were of high interest and represent a common research agenda within the reviewed literature, together with understanding the impacts of globalization on connectivity, social and ecological diversity, and resilience (Hay 2013;Lauer et al. 2013). Social development conversations about gender equality (n = 3) were present within the reviewed literature, but other critical development concerns, such as unemployment (n = 0) were absent from the reviewed literature. ...
Article
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Under global environmental change, understanding the interactions between people and nature has become critical for human survival. Comparative research can identify trends within social-ecological systems providing key insights for both environmental and developmental research. Island systems, with clear land boundaries, have been proposed as ideal case studies for comparative research, but it is unclear to what extent their potential has been fulfilled. To summarize existing research and identify potential gaps and new directions, we reviewed comparative environmental and developmental research on Pacific Large Ocean States. A diversity of case study locations and research themes were addressed within the sample of reviewed studies. Within the reviewed literature climate change, energy infrastructure, trade and fisheries were key themes of environmental and developmental research compared between island systems. Research was biased towards wealthier Pacific Large Ocean States and those with a relatively higher degree of socio-economic development. Our review highlights the potential value of a stronger a priori inclusion of spatial scale and conceptual frameworks, such as spatial resilience, to facilitate generalization from case studies.
... Yarina & Takemoto, 2017;Ministry of FATTEL GovTV, 2016) for and within socio-environmentally complex systems means coping with them and copying their functional characteristics. It further means to upgrade Pacific Islands communities within their already existing capacities in traditional sources of resilience (McCubbin et al., 2015;Connel, 2013;Lauer et al., 2013;Rudiak-Gould, 2013;Veitayaki, 2009), especially with Tuvalu being one of the most vulnerable countries in the Pacific Ocean (Reid et al., 2009) and being projected to disappear in the next 25 or 30 (comp. Yarina & Takemoto, 2017) to 50 years (comp. ...
... Moreover, in recent decades, however, communities in the Pacific Islands compromised some traditional sources of resilience (Connel, 2013;Lauer et al., 2013;McCubbin et al., 2015;Rudiak-Gould, 2013;Veitayaki, 2009). The small island states and Tuvalu communities are more vulnerable to climate change as tending to be located in geographically vulnerable areas. ...
Article
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Global warming and climate change represent current threats for island states in the Pacific Ocean region. Next to global warming and the effects of Sea Level Rise, the resulting vulnerability of coastal offshore, shoreline, and oceanic ecosystems are additional factors that need to be considered urgently. As a coastal atoll area and part of the Pacific Small Island States, Tuvalu is now under threat with its cultural landscapes due to climate change impacts. The country and its landscapes surround an area of only 26 km², where 11,810 people live in hostile climatic conditions. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change projected that Tuvalu would probably be the first country to sink underwater. The question arises about sustainable solutions for ongoing security and a habitable situation for people, culture, landscapes, and ecosystems. Unstable agricultural crop production, fishing, and coconuts cultivation are some of the challenges on the island. The exemplary derived polynomial curve of nine different islands and their islands' population displacement behavior shows up results of hostile conditions with six islands having lost their inhabitants, and only three islands’ populations have increased. This study aims to analyze the overall situation of Tuvalu and find an alternative solution to safeguard Tuvaluan people, the island ecosystems and heritage, and cultural landscapes. Specific objectives of this study are the following: (1.) Understanding the theoretical concept of climate change impacts, sea-level rise impacts, the protection of Tuvaluan people, and the islands' unique biodiversity; (2.) Analyzing the socio-economic condition, livelihoods, culture, heritage, and environmental scenarios of Tuvalu; (3.) Giving potential recommendations for creating an international network, applied research, and training for the future development of ecosystems and cultural landscapes of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean. This paper analyzed the present affected situation of Tuvalu; it also highlighted socio-economic and livelihoods sustainability, future scenarios, and alternative suggestion to mitigate this hostile environment of Tuvalu. GIS applications for visualizing and analyzing environmental data were one of the appropriate tools for decision-makers to support long-term planning for Tuvalu.
... However, the impending effects of climate change in this region include rising sea levels and declining coral reef fisheries (Green et al. 2006, Carpenter et al. 2008, Bell et al. 2013. Simultaneously, globalization and the growth of a marketbased economy in the Pacific is increasing reliance on extractive industries such as offshore fishing and logging (Macintyre and Foale 2004, Lauer et al. 2013, Albert et al. 2014, Jupiter et al. 2014c, Katovai et al. 2015. Pressure on inshore fisheries is also growing, posing a threat to food security given that Solomon Islanders depend on fish as a key source of protein (Bell et al. 2009, Roeger et al. 2016. ...
... Pressure on inshore fisheries is also growing, posing a threat to food security given that Solomon Islanders depend on fish as a key source of protein (Bell et al. 2009, Roeger et al. 2016. Responding effectively to social and biophysical change is critical for mitigating potentially severe local impacts on ecosystems and on the livelihoods of highly resource-dependent Pacific communities (Hughes et al. 2005, Lauer et al. 2013, Österblom and Folke 2013, Jupiter et al. 2014c. Improving the governance of inshore fisheries is critical to securing biodiversity and food security for Solomon Islands (Cohen et al. 2015, Rohe et al. 2019. ...
Article
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Unprecedented, rapid social-ecological change threatens marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of communities who depend on them. Governance scholars have identified adaptive governance principles that enable managers and decision makers to respond flexibly to such change. However, much of this work is the result of case studies undertaken in the Global North, primarily in democratic countries. Despite this research bias, governance actors (e.g., government officials, nongovernmental organization professionals) in countries with other types of governing systems are increasingly applying adaptive governance principles normatively to policy. This expansion in the implementation of adaptive governance requires that governance scholars account for substantial variation across legal systems and sociocultural norms around decision-making in different geographies. Governance scholars must closely examine areas where adaptive governance principles need to evolve to better suit a wide variety of governance contexts. Here, we conduct such an examination through an empirical case study of a fisheries law developed in a country in the Global South: the Solomon Islands Fisheries Management Act (2015). We analyze the content of the Act along with data from interviews with governance actors and fishing village residents. We show how the Act realizes several adaptive governance principles through novel provisions that formally incorporate local communities and their practices into national fisheries management. We then illustrate four challenges for implementation that require critical reflection on approaches to institutionalizing adaptive governance in diverse contexts. We illustrate how these challenges are rooted in three assumptions underlying adaptive governance theory. These assumptions relate to: (1) the role of the state, (2) the role of democratic ideals in enforcement, and (3) the role of Western science, compared to other epistemologies, in decision-making. We conclude with suggestions for evolving these assumptions to improve the institutionalization of adaptive governance in countries with a wide variety of legal systems and governing norms.
... From the study, it is supported that both social network and social participation had a significant positive effect on households' sustainable livelihood ability since they transformed into economic capacity (Wang & Zhu, 2023). Moreover, other studies in Melanesia have confirmed that social factors such as self-organized stakeholder agency, cooperation, and social relationships influence the ability of communities to cope with changes (Lauer et al., 2013;Schwarz et al., 2011). Meanwhile, Table 6 reported that the majority of participants agreed that natural resources on the island are well preserved and fairly allocated for tourism and livelihood purposes (M = 3.67). ...
Article
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Coastal and marine tourism development is best described as sustainable tourism as it helps in reducing socio-cultural and economic impacts towards the growth of a sustainable Blue Economy. Hence, a study on how tourism development effects the local communities' livelihood resources has become a crucial factor within these contexts. This paper reports on a small pilot study to develop a set of community sustainable livelihoods in coastal and marine destination development in Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia. Local communities were surveyed to identify the indicator of their current living conditions they value most for the sustainable livelihood development of their communities. It seeks to determine the preliminary perceptions of local communities on the development of Pangkor Island in the context of their livelihood resources such as financial, social, human, physical, and natural assets. The pilot test sample size was 64 respondents, and random sampling techniques were utilized. It is hoped by developing this pilot test result will contributes to the establishment of a foundation for future sustainability in coastal and marine destination in Malaysia as well as offers beneficial implications to the industry practitioners.
... From the study, it is supported that both social network and social participation had a significant positive effect on households' sustainable livelihood ability since they transformed into economic capacity (Wang & Zhu, 2023). Moreover, other studies in Melanesia have confirmed that social factors such as self-organized stakeholder agency, cooperation, and social relationships influence the ability of communities to cope with changes (Lauer et al., 2013;Schwarz et al., 2011). Meanwhile, Table 6 reported that the majority of participants agreed that natural resources on the island are well preserved and fairly allocated for tourism and livelihood purposes (M = 3.67). ...
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Coastal and marine tourism development is best described as sustainable tourism as it helps in reducing socio-cultural and economic impacts towards the growth of a sustainable Blue Economy. Hence, a study on how tourism development effects the local communities' livelihood resources has become a crucial factor within these contexts. This paper reports on a small pilot study to develop a set of community sustainable livelihoods in coastal and marine destination development in Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia. Local communities were surveyed to identify the indicator of their current living conditions they value most for the sustainable livelihood development of their communities. It seeks to determine the preliminary perceptions of local communities on the development of Pangkor Island in the context of their livelihood resources such as financial, social, human, physical, and natural assets. The pilot test sample size was 64 respondents, and random sampling techniques were utilized. It is hoped by developing this pilot test result will contributes to the establishment of a foundation for future sustainability in coastal and marine destination in Malaysia as well as offers beneficial implications to the industry practitioners.
... The Pacific Island region is characterized by people who have a reverent focus on family (Corbett, 2015;Paterson et al., 2008), a strong desire to overcome the local issues experienced when living in these locations (McNamara et al., 2022) and an emphasis on indigenous knowledge that supports and underpins resilience within local communities (McMillen et al., 2014). Recent challenges experienced by Pacific people include the impacts of climate change (Barnett, 2001) and subsequent threats to food security (McNamara et al., 2022), natural disasters such as tsunami (Lauer et al., 2013), negative economic growth arguably exacerbated by globalization (Gounder & Xayavong, 2002), the management of finite resources (e.g. see Johannes, 2002), and limited access to education, particularly for an increasing young demographic (United Nations, 2020). ...
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Pacific Island communities are facing disruptions to supply chains from natural disasters and a changing global environment, which have become more acute following the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, it has been demonstrated how flexible systems can enhance resilience in low-resource environments, such as adapting to changing consumer needs and minimizing supply chain disruptions. This paper considers how the development of a flexible system for conducting a risk assessment on a product that was developed and manufactured in a Makerspace environment would have application in Pacific Island communities to improve resilience. Using a participative action research (PAR) approach, a traditional product risk assessment is refined through iterative PAR cycles to reconceptualize it into a structured simplified risk process. The resulting product development risk assessment process (PDRAP) demonstrates that it is possible to adapt a detailed systematic risk assessment process, such as hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP), to be more suitable and effective for low-resource situations requiring flexible solutions. The improved process provides greater system flexibility to empower people to develop products which may improve their resilience in an ever changing and complex world. The PDRAP process can improve product design and adaptability which assists safeguarding supply chains from system wide disruptions. With the emergence of Makerspaces in developing countries for supply chain recovery from natural disasters and a changing national strategy, the PDRAP provides communities with a low-resource approach for risk assessment to ensure the safe use of products fabricated using emerging low-volume, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing technology.
... Communitybased adaptation to climate change is rapidly gaining attention in SIDS because it is effective, widely applicable, participatory, consultative, and inexpensive. It specifically encompasses: 1 Making use of local knowledge and traditional technologies to renovate communities [21]; 2 Mutual support, risk sharing, and community networks are taken as core pillars of community-based adaptation [22]; 3 Community leaders promote culture and values-based cooperation [23]. In the Solomon Islands, people use concrete floors to keep their homes dry and build palm leaf roofs to avoid debris during tornadoes. ...
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Regional climate change is affected by global warming, large-scale inter-regional circulation, and land use/cover. As a result of different ecological, economic, and social conditions, climate adaptation actions vary from region to region, including community-based adaptation in small island developing states, enhancing flood resilience in Europe, weather index insurance promotion in Africa, climate change adaptation based on traditional knowledge in the Polar Regions, and global joint decision-making in terms of regional issues of the Ocean. This paper takes the above five typical cases as the research objects, and the multi-case comparative research method is adopted to discuss regional climate change adaptation based on the pressure–state–response framework. It found that: (1) regional climate change adaptation faces significant pressure from cross-regional flows of finance, population, and species under climate change; (2) climate change hotspot maps based on climate change projections show regional climate vulnerability; (3) responses for regional climate change adaptation require active promotion of multi-level governance with horizontal and vertical cooperation. In the future, regional climate change adaptation should focus on inter-regional climate justice and equality, regional climate change adaptation pathways optimization, and how to effectively learn from typical regional climate adaptation cases.
... In Malaita Province, local engagement in logging has led to dependencies on store-bought food, as well as a range of negative impacts on coastal food sources (Minter & van der Ploeg, 2021). In Western Province, changes in coastal management strategies have fundamentally impacted on diets (Aswani & Furusawa, 2007), while the ability to locate wild food (e.g., wild yams, Dioscorea spp.) supports adaptation to disaster events (Lauer et al., 2013). ...
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Food connects people and place, and weaves together issues of resource use, culture, and sovereignty. In the Pacific, a ‘nutrition transition’ towards store-bought and processed food is implicated in poor health outcomes and lowered resilience. We use a mixed methods approach to explore changes in the ‘foodscape’ – the interconnections between people and food in a place – at four rural sites in Solomon Islands. Our results indicate low dietary diversity driven by a range of environmental and social factors including commercial logging. Art-based methods show that a range of components of the foodscape, including Indigenous knowledge and practice and access to land, have supported resilience to external shocks. We argue that efforts to improve nutrition outcomes should build on place-based strengths and be designed to enhance local understandings of food sovereignty.
... Due to the role of indigenous knowledge in managing ecosystems and resources, anticipating future climatic and environmental conditions, and enabling adjustments in food and livelihood sources accordingly to promote the health and well-being of indigenous people, it provides flexible feasible options to facilitate sustainable development planning and policy making worldwide (Charnley et al. 2007;Williams and Hardison 2013) including the Pacific region (Cinner et al. 2005;Berkes and Turner 2006;Lauer et al. 2013;McMillen et al. 2014). Indigenous knowledge is obtained by observing and interacting with the environment (Green et al. 2010), and has been accumulated over centuries of extensive experiences from which people have learnt. ...
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This study uses a community-based assessment in conjunction with the integrated catchment management and community capitals frameworks to explore the iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) knowledge systems relative to the management of natural resources in the villages in the Waimanu Catchment. The iTaukei knowledge systems encompassing traditional beliefs, values, customs, and social relations within the villages were used to devise adaptive strategies to improve the physical, financial, human, cultural, social, and political capitals in order to enhance the natural capital in the Waimanu Catchment. Improving the health of local ecosystems would increase the adaptive capacity of the local communities, which would ultimately, make the communities resilient to the impacts of climate change and human activities. It is therefore, essential to implement an integrated management plan on a catchment scale which considers the interconnectedness between people and the ecosystems as well as the upstream–downstream connectivity since land use changes undertaken upstream affect the resilience of downstream communities. The study emphasized that the enrichment of human capital, social bonding, and collaboration among the internal and external stakeholders consisting of government, quasi-government and non-government organizations, industries and businesses, and landowners located both within and outside of the catchment served as the key principles to help achieve community resilience.
... Both their second and third objectives-"to adapt to change" and "to quickly transform systems that limit current or future adaptive capacity" (p.45)-highlight the attempts to cope with future uncertainty through transformative adaptations. We parallel the latter to the ecological (bounce-forward) and the evolutionary (transform-forward) resilience [26,42]. Uncertainty is particularly salient in Davoudi et al.'s [1] definition of evolutionary resilience that includes "inherent uncertainty and discontinuities, insight into the dynamic interplay of persistence, and adaptability and transformability" (p.306). ...
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The uncertainty of climate change’s impacts hinders adaptation actions, particularly micro-scale urban design interventions. This paper proposes a sixfold urban design framework to assess and enhance the resilience of urban form to climate change, where urban form refers to the patterns of streets, buildings, and land uses. The framework is then applied to Long Bay in Negril, Jamaica–a coastal area that incorporates the complex interactions between urbanization and a highly vulnerable socio-ecological system to climate change-related hazards, primarily sea-level rise. Empirical evidence from 19 in-depth interviews with planning and design professionals and development actors, in situ observations, and morphological analyses reveal that Long Bay’s current adaptation strategies heavily rely on bounce-back resilience measures that predominantly consider the impacts of extreme climatic events rather than slow-onset ones. Such strategies abet current tourism-driven development patterns while overlooking Long Bay’s inherent abilities for generative transformation and incremental changes to meet climatic uncertainty. Instead, this study’s findings highlight how generative urban form transformation would better equip Long Bay to cope with future uncertainty–climatic or other.
... The focus here is on how people and the natural environment adapt to environmental disturbances, such as extreme weather events, and the disasters following hurricanes, tsunamis, coastal flooding, or wildfires. Resilience is also relevant for preparing and mitigating the effects of slow-onset disasters like coral reef bleaching, sea level rise, drought, extreme heat, and other environmental changes that displace human and natural communities (Aldrich 2012;Levin and Lubchenco 2008;Cinner et al. 2009;Lauer et al. 2013). ...
... In addition, the growth of informal settlements and the lack of social equity during urbanization [38] can also result in the reduction in social resilience. A city is a sophisticated system, and different cities (developed or developing; large or small) face various resource trade-offs in the process of urbanization [18,39], which leads to a complex relationship between urbanization and urban resilience. ...
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Urban resilience, as an important ability to deal with disasters in the process of urbanization, has been paid more and more attention as the result of the increasing risks that are caused by rapid urbanization. China is taking the county level as the basic unit to promote new-type urbanization and constructing resilient cities has become one of the development strategies. However, to achieve this strategy researchers need to analyze the interaction between county urbanization and urban resilience and its driving mechanism, which have been paid little attention. Therefore, this paper selected 167 counties in Hebei Province as the investigation subject. Based on the statistical data from 2010 to 2020, a comprehensive index system was developed to quantify the degree of coupling coordination between urbanization and urban resilience, and the spatial Durbin model was used to analyze the driving mechanism of it. The study shows that: Firstly, the urbanization level of counties rose year after year, with there being a geographical distribution that was “lower from southeast to northwest”. The level of urban resilience increased year after year, showing a geographical distribution that was “higher from south to north” and a “core-edge” feature that was localized. Secondly, the coupling coordination degree increased steadily, and the overall level changed from a basic imbalance to a mild imbalance. In space, it is bounded by “Pingquan City—Pingshan County”, which showed the distribution of “high in the east and low in the west, high in the center and low on the outskirts”. Thirdly, the coupling coordination degree has spatial spillover effect. Government financial expenditure, innovation level, industrial upgrading level and urban shape index all influence the coupling coordination degree positively, with a successively decreasing impact, while the urban compactness has significant negative impacts. This study indicates that the regional differences exist in the coupling coordination degree, and the counties in different development stages need to adopt different strategies to promote the coordinated development of urbanized and resilient cities. Inter-regional support is also necessary in this process. Meanwhile, it is necessary for the government to govern various urban elements, especially in terms of their urban form.
... Arguments in favour of this position include that (i) responding to local development needs prioritizes locally grounded interventions and embeds adaptation and mitigation agendas in local institution's everyday planning, making it sustainable over time (Artur et al., 2018;Butler et al., 2014), (ii) co-benefits, synergies and trade-offs can be considered, for example between modernisation and traditional values in rural development settings (Butler et al., 2014;Chelleri et al., 2016). However, Chelleri et al. (2016), after Lauer et al., (2013) note the difficulty in making clear distinctions between opportunities and threats in the development context. This lack of transparency can lead to unpredictable, unwanted and unsustainable development trajectories. ...
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Development processes and action on climate change are closely interlinked. This is recognised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fifth assessment report, which reports on climate-resilient pathways, understood as development trajectories towards sustainable development which include adaptation and mitigation. The upcoming sixth assessment report dedicates a chapter to climate resilient development pathways. In this context, this paper asks what conceptual and empirical advances on climate resilient development pathways were made since the fifth assessment report. Through a literature review, this paper analyses goals and approaches for climate resilient development pathways, and discusses what conceptual advances have and could still be made. We find little evidence of dedicated concept development. Rather, we observe conceptual ambiguity. Literature showed four non-exclusive clusters of approaches: (a) climate action oriented, (b) social-learning and co-creation oriented, (c) mainstreaming oriented and (d) transformation oriented. We recommend operationalising climate resilient development pathways as the process of consolidating climate action and development decisions towards long-term sustainable development. This process requires explicit engagement with aspirations of actors, and connecting past developments with future aspirations and understandings of risk. Working with multiple pathways allows us to embed flexibility, anticipation and learning in planning. A greater focus is needed on issues linked to justice and equity as climate resilient development pathways will inevitably involve trade-offs. Substantiating the concept of climate resilient development pathways has the potential to bridge climate and development perspectives, which may otherwise remain separated in development and climate policy, practice and science.
... There are many cases where the use of traditional knowledge and traditional institutions that exhibit flexible and customary land tenure have delivered sustainable self-management of resources in the past. For example, in Simbo, Solomon Islands, loosely organised governance structures that draw on traditional knowledge, such as the practice of customary tenure can spontaneously adapt to changing social-ecological conditions(Lauer et al., 2013). Evidence from across Oceania reveals evidence of natural-resource dependent people understanding the natural cycles of a whitebait run and using this knowledge to manage their food source(Jenkins, Horwitz and Arabena, 2018).Lauer (2018), however, emphasises the importance of both customary and top-down governance, highlighting how traditional land tenure systems in the Solomon Islands support sustainable land management, while top-down approaches and formal courts ensure social cohesion and reduce conflict.Top-down pressures can enhance or hinder traditional institutions and practices. ...
Thesis
The importance of the role of governance in reducing disaster risk has international recognition from the United Nations’ Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The decentralisation of decision-making has been proposed by scholars as a practice to improve disaster outcomes. However, there is very little research that examines the role of decentralised disaster governance in household disaster experiences. Much of the current disaster experience research tends to use aggregate trend data of numbers of people affected, fatalities and economic loss that reveal high-level changes over time, but provide very little sense of the outcomes for different types of affected households. Studies that focus on household-scale outcomes tend to be one-off studies that do not provide longitudinal evidence of changing household experiences over time. This study fills a gap by researching the historical associations between disaster governance and the lived experiences of households over three decades of disasters. The research problem is studied through the case study of Samoa, a typical small island developing state. Small island developing states are relevant case studies as they are often physically small and remote, low lying, and resource poor – all of which can affect disaster outcomes. By taking a political ecology approach, the study reveals how power dynamics within communities interact with formal governance systems. Despite differences between disaster outcomes experienced by all households, this research identified three ‘types’ of households, based predominantly on their primary income source, which had similar experiences. Households with access to formal income and those receiving remittances had improved disaster outcomes between 1990 and 2018. However, subsistence households experienced few improvements in disaster outcomes over this period, continuing to struggle to access income and food after cyclones disrupted their agricultural source of income. The research finds that while formal decentralised governance arrangements are important at the local scale to support collective action and local scale relief distribution, decentralisation of responsibility often occurs without the complete decentralisation of power and resources. Despite noteworthy reforms in Samoa, the current formal disaster governance arrangements have not improved the disaster outcomes for the most marginalised households. Households with low-income and low social status struggle to access both resources and access to decision-making within villages. For higher-income and more powerful households, improved disaster outcomes are more closely associated with increased national scale economic development as opposed to governance reforms. I conclude that for governance to improve outcomes, formal decentralisation of responsibility for disaster preparedness, response and recovery may need a concurrent decentralisation of power and resources. However, decentralising power and resources can also be problematic, leading to the concentration of power and resource capture by local elites. The thesis makes recommendations to improve disaster outcomes of all household groups, not just those that are already best placed to recover from disasters.
... Arguments in favour of this position include that (i) responding to local development needs prioritizes locally grounded interventions and embeds adaptation and mitigation agendas in local institution's everyday planning, making it sustainable over time (Artur et al., 2018;Butler et al., 2014), (ii) co-benefits, synergies and trade-offs can be considered, for example between modernisation and traditional values in rural development settings (Butler et al., 2014;Chelleri et al., 2016). However, Chelleri et al. (2016), after Lauer et al., (2013) note the difficulty in making clear distinctions between opportunities and threats in the development context. This lack of transparency can lead to unpredictable, unwanted and unsustainable development trajectories. ...
Article
Full-text available
Development processes and action on climate change are closely interlinked. This is recognised by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fifth assessment report, which reports on climate-resilient pathways, understood as development trajectories towards sustainable development which include adaptation and mitigation. The upcoming sixth assessment report dedicates a chapter to climate resilient development pathways. In this context, this paper asks what conceptual and empirical advances on climate resilient devel-opment pathways were made since the fifth assessment report. Through a literature review, this paper analyses goals and approaches for climate resilient development pathways, and discusses what conceptual advances have and could still be made. We find little evidence of dedicated concept development. Rather, we observe con-ceptual ambiguity. Literature showed four non-exclusive clusters of approaches: (a) climate action oriented, (b) social-learning and co-creation oriented, (c) mainstreaming oriented and (d) transformation oriented. We recommend operationalising climate resilient development pathways as the process of consolidating climate action and development decisions towards long-term sustainable development. This process requires explicit engagement with aspirations of actors, and connecting past developments with future aspirations and un-derstandings of risk. Working with multiple pathways allows us to embed flexibility, anticipation and learning in planning. A greater focus is needed on issues linked to justice and equity as climate resilient development pathways will inevitably involve trade-offs. Substantiating the concept of climate resilient development path-ways has the potential to bridge climate and development perspectives, which may otherwise remain separated in development and climate policy, practice and science.
... SPIS communities have a rich heritage, developed over centuries, of knowledge, practices, and adaptive strategies which have allowed them to overcome unexpected disruptions and catastrophes (Bambridge & Latouche, 2017;Ballard et al., 2020;Calandra, 2020). However, the intensity and rapidity of globally and locally induced environmental changes in these islandscombined with a lack of resources -may prevent communities from successfully adapting to novel and sudden challenges (Westoby et al., 2020;Lauer et al., 2013;Nunn, 2013). ...
Article
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This paper presents a transdisciplinary study focusing on the socio-ecological mechanisms at play in the alteration of Moorea’s (French Polynesia) coastline. Building on a previous study synthesizing the results from monitoring efforts of the island’s coastline from 1977 to 2018, we offer a joint analysis of scientific and local perceptions of coastal changes and of the impacts of coastal armoring in Moorea. Drawing on ecological and ethnographic data (111 semi-structured interviews of Moorea residents and representatives from local authorities), we analyze the drivers invoked by near-shore residents to modify their coastline as well as the perceived effects of coastal artificialization on the near-shore marine biodiversity and topography. We also address the broader economic and political contexts under which the island’s coastline is being increasingly transformed. Overall, our study highlights how the perceptions of increased erosion coupled to poorly enforced regulations drive the progressive armoring of the coastline through a diversity of private-based developments. We discuss how the latter have, both for scientists and residents, controversial community-wide economic, social, and ecological impacts
... The focus here is on how people and the natural environment adapt to environmental disturbances, such as extreme weather events, and the disasters following hurricanes, tsunamis, coastal flooding, or wildfires. Resilience is also relevant for preparing and mitigating the effects of slow-onset disasters like coral reef bleaching, sea level rise, drought, extreme heat, and other environmental changes that displace human and natural communities (Aldrich 2012;Levin and Lubchenco 2008;Cinner et al. 2009;Lauer et al. 2013). ...
Chapter
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The risks and vulnerabilities generated by climate change are disproportionately distributed among low-income communities, indigenous peoples, and communities of color worldwide. However, some communities have proven to be more resilient to the challenges of an unpredictable environment, adapting to change, bouncing back from disasters, and working to anticipate and plan for future threats. To understand these disparities in community resilience, social-environmental researchers have turned to the concept of social capital to understand how local communities impacted by climate change connect to advance community preparedness, response, and adaptability. Social capital is a process of networking beneficial relationships in and across communities that can be explored through bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. Social capital processes are not inherently durable, with opportunities to both reduce and improve community resilience. This chapter summarizes and explains key literature on social capital and community resilience. At the same time, how different types of social capital development interact and contribute to collective community action in the context of climate change. The chapter provides examples of how social capital connects to frameworks of social-ecological systems, disaster studies, and environmental governance, with a summary of lessons from these contexts. Additionally, the chapter provides activities, practices, and lessons learned from different society sectors that can support social capital for climate change-affected communities. This chapter demonstrates that developing social capital can provide critical support to climate change-affected communities for their long-term resilience and some of the challenges to achieve this.
... Globally, and in the Pacific Island region, climate change is emerging as the primary threat to marine social-ecological systems, with increases in ocean temperature, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise increasingly affecting marine ecosystems and vulnerable coastal communities (Ainsworth et al., 2011;Bell et al., 2018b;Bell et al., 2011;Lauer et al., 2013;Mote et al., 2008;Pendleton et al., 2016). In addition, localized activities such as land-based pollution, coastal development, sedimentation, and overfishing represent immediate and direct threats to marine ecosystems (Bell et al., 2018b;Bell et al., 2011;Brodie et al., 2020a;Brodie et al., 2020b;Brodie, 2016;Devlin et al., 2020;Ovando et al., 2020;Petus et al., 2014). ...
Article
Marine ecosystems across the world's largest ocean – the Pacific Ocean – are being increasingly affected by stressors such as pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, coastal development and warming events coupled with rising sea levels and increasing frequency of extreme weather. These anthropogenic-driven stressors, which operate cumulatively at varying spatial and temporal scales, are leading to ongoing and pervasive degradation of many marine ecosystems in the Pacific Island region. The effects of global warming and ocean acidification threaten much of the region and impact on the socio-cultural, environmental, economic and human health components of many Pacific Island nations. Simultaneously, resilience to climate change is being reduced as systems are overburdened by other stressors, such as marine and land-based pollution and unsustainable fishing. Consequently, it is important to understand the vulnerability of this region to future environmental scenarios and determine to what extent management actions can help protect, and rebuild ecosystem resilience and maintain ecosystem service provision. This Special Issue of papers explores many of these pressures through case studies across the Pacific Island region, and the impacts of individual and cumulative pressures on the condition, resilience and survival of ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. The papers represent original work from across the tropical Pacific oceanscape, an area that includes 22 Pacific Island countries and territories plus Hawaii and the Philippines. The 39 papers within provide insights on anthropogenic pressures and habitat responses at local, national, and regional scales. The themes range from coastal water quality and human health, assessment of status and trends for marine habitats (e.g. seagrass and coral reefs), and the interaction of local pressures (pollution, overfishing) with increasing temperatures and climate variability. Studies within the Special Issue highlight how local actions, monitoring, tourism values, management, policy and incentives can encourage adaptation to anthropogenic impacts. Conclusions identify possible solutions to support sustainable and harmonious environment and social systems in the unique Pacific Island oceanscape.
... community cohesion, memory and knowledge transmission, individual support to collective action) and exogenous (e.g. role of migrations, transnational finance, international relations) resources and drivers (Nunn, 2007;Barnett & Waters, 2016;Holdschlag & Ratter, 2015Lauer et al., 2013;McLeman, 2010;Pelling & Uito, 2001;Schwartz et al., 2011). ...
Article
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This empirical and interdisciplinary study investigates the contribution of deeply enrooted social-political factors to the accumulation of exposure and vulnerability and amplification of cascading impacts of disasters, with implications on the creation and reinforcement of path dependency maintaining social-ecological systems on a maladaptive trajectory. Applying the Trajectory of Exposure and Vulnerability approach to Saint-Martin (Caribbean), we more specifically highlight how the causal chain linking historical geopolitical and political-institutional drivers to legal, economic, demographic, sociocultural, planning-related and environmental drivers, created the accumulation of exposure and vulnerability over time and contributed to the propagation and amplification of the impacts of tropical cyclones Irma and José in 2017. We find that historical social-political dynamics involving unsustainable development and settlement patterns, the weakness of local institutions , population mistrust in public authorities, high social inequalities and environmental degradation maintained Saint-Martin on a maladaptive trajectory through powerful reinforcing mechanisms operating both between and during cyclonic events. This study demonstrates that long-term interdisciplinary approaches are required for a better understanding of path dependency and the identification of levers to break it in risk-prone contexts. In Saint-Martin, breaking path dependency requires the alignment of local institutional capacities with national risk reduction policies, the promotion of social justice and involvement of local communities in decision making. This study therefore confirms the relevance of backward-looking approaches to support forward-looking climate adaptation.
... SPIS communities have a rich heritage, developed over centuries, of knowledge, practices, and adaptive strategies which have allowed them to overcome unexpected disruptions and catastrophes (Bambridge & Latouche, 2017;Ballard et al., 2020;Calandra, 2020). However, the intensity and rapidity of globally and locally induced environmental changes in these islandscombined with a lack of resources -may prevent communities from successfully adapting to novel and sudden challenges (Westoby et al., 2020;Lauer et al., 2013;Nunn, 2013). ...
... Earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides place a devastating toll on human lives, critical infrastructure, and ecosystems, particularly in "developing" nations where major population centers are often clustered in areas of high seismicity and exposed coastal regions (Hill, Sparks, & Rougier, 2013). Processes of global change are combining to exacerbate the risks posed by these geophysical events: hillside deforestation together with climate change is expected to increase landslide activity (Crozier, 2010); landuse changes and modification of the nearshore environment have broadened areas at risk from tsunami inundation (Alongi, 2008;Titov et al., 2011); rapid, unplanned urbanization has led to many cities being ill-equipped to withstand major earthquakes (Smith, 2013); while the widespread displacement of traditional institutions and ecological knowledge has eroded adaptive capacities in many regions (Lauer et al., 2013). Harnessing the predictive capabilities of hazard models is key to transitioning from reactive approaches to disaster management toward building resilient societies, alleviating poverty, and driving sustainable growth. ...
Article
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Earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides take a devastating toll on human lives, critical infrastructure, and ecosystems. Harnessing the predictive capacities of hazard models is key to transitioning from reactive approaches to disaster management toward building resilient societies, yet the knowledge that these models produce involves multiple uncertainties. The failure to properly account for these uncertainties has at times had important implications, from the flawed safety measures at the Fukushima power plant, to the reliance on short‐term earthquake prediction models (reportedly at the expense of mitigation efforts) in modern China. This article provides an overview of methods for handling uncertainty in probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, tsunami hazard analysis, and debris flow modeling, considering best practices and areas for improvement. It covers sensitivity analysis, structured approaches to expert elicitation, methods for characterizing structural uncertainty (e.g., ensembles and logic trees), and the value of formal decision‐analytic frameworks even in situations of deep uncertainty.
... Connections and networks within communities can facilitate knowledge transfer and learning as well as exchange of resources, particularly in times of need, and their composition can have an outsized impact on support, self-organization, and resilience in the face of challenges (Ramalingam 2013;Dacks et al. 2018). For instance, varivagana is an important cultural concept in Simbo, Solomon Islands, centered on generosity and reciprocal obligations across social networks (Lauer et al. 2013); in Hawai'i laulima emphasizes collective action supported by strong social networks (McGregor 2007). A growing number of international efforts aim to articulate and evaluate these types of connections, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Better Life Initiative metrics on support networks (OECD 2017). ...
... In Escobar's terms, this case illustrates an emergent process of 'autonomous design': Simbo for Change was locally led but supported by a broader network of actors beyond the island. Interestingly, a previous study of the response to the 12-metre tsunami which struck Simbo and neighbouring islands in 2007 had pointed to similar processes (Lauer et al., 2013). Lauer et al. (2013, p. 48) found that strong social capital and resilience on the island was bolstered by an "intermeshing with largerscale processes" that enabled islanders to gain experience and qualifications off the island and was then used to help provide the necessary leadership to respond effectively to the crisis. ...
Article
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There is a growing recognition of the effectiveness of locally led processes of social change and development. However, most of the case studies that have been discussed in the literature are focused on programs run by international development agencies. This article examines three locally led processes of change in the Pacific. These include the Simbo for Change Initiative in the Solomon Islands, the Voice in Papua New Guinea and a regional process led by the Green Growth Coalition. We explore how local understandings of leadership, preferences for informal ways of working, holistic ways of thinking, the importance placed upon maintaining good relationships and collective deliberation fundamentally shaped each of the cases. We note how these preferences and ways of working are often seen, or felt, to be at odds with western modes of thought and the practice of development agencies. Finally, we conclude by exploring how these initiatives were supported by external agencies, and suggest further research of this type might provide benchmarks by which Pacific citizens can hold their governments and development agencies to account.
... This finding was corroborated in a study of coastal tourismdependent communities in Thailand following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: resilience was framed as a negotiated normative governance process in which the role of stakeholder agency and processes are key to developing legitimate resilience visions and practices (Larsen et al. 2011). A study of community resilience and vulnerability to tsunamis in the Solomon Islands found that communities have to negotiate trade-offs between some adaptive capacities that sustain general system resilience at the expense of increased vulnerability to low-probability events like tsunami, making resilience a dynamic and multiscale challenge that is interwoven with patterns of vulnerability (Lauer et al. 2013 For example, the demise of historic Norse Greenland communities may have been driven by changing regional economic and trading patterns compounded by environmental change that resulted in cascading collapse of interconnected settlements (Dugmore et al. 2007;cf. Diamond 2005). ...
Chapter
Abstract: A deliberative approach to coastal governance is needed to navigate the stormy seas of the Anthropocene. Coasts are the frontline of the global struggle for sustainability and the primary arena for learning how to adapt to the super-wicked problem of climate change. Coastal communities need to build layers of resilience in the face of waves of adversity due to unsustainable practices that are compounded by climate change impacts. Well-intentioned but modest adaptation measures to maintain the status quo can reduce climate risks and even mitigate some climate impacts in the short term. However, the root causes and drivers of unsustainable coastal development, institutional inertia, and path-dependent maladaptation need to be confronted. Emerging adaptation efforts, however, reveal persistent barriers for translating theory into practice. How might adaptation barriers be overcome? Much can be learned from decades of coastal management experience. This experience demonstrates that business as usual is untenable. Sustainable coastal development is widely espoused but elusive in practice. To break the impasse, new modalities of innovative transitional and even transformative coastal governance need to be envisioned and institutionalized, with climate change adaptation an integral part thereof. Deliberative coastal governance provides a foundation for managing climate risk at the coast, charting adaptive pathways, and building resilience in the face of the contestation, complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, and surprise that characterize life on the frontline in the Anthropocene.
... The wane asi read newspapers articles, watch movies, browse the web, and check Facebook, and they use this information to contextualize and give meaning to their daily experiences. Modern education, urbanization, information technology, and mass media often depreciate ecological knowledge and traditional coping strategies, and promote modern solutions for environmental problems, a process that CCDRM projects, often unintentionally, reinforce [91,92]. ...
Article
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The saltwater people of Solomon Islands are often portrayed to be at the frontline of climate change. In media, policy, and development discourses, the erosion and abandonment of the small, man-made islands along the coast of Malaita is attributed to climate change induced sea-level rise. This paper investigates this sinking islands narrative, and argues that a narrow focus on the projected impacts of climate change distracts attention and resources from more pressing environmental and development problems that are threatening rural livelihoods.
... The numbers published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) show a sustained growth both in the number of tourists on the international scene and in the economic repercussions of tourism. This growth is due to international policies that eliminate and make more flexible the tariff barriers for goods and services, especially as far as financial capital is concerned, combined to an ever-growing amount of social relations facilitated by the speed of transportation and communication (Lauer et al., 2013;Sugiyarto et al., 2003). This set of social, economic, financial and political changes of the last decades is named globalization. ...
Article
Since the end of the last century, geographers have been using the concept of touristification understood as a complex process in which various stakeholders interfere, transforming a territory through tourist activity. However, over recent years, this word has become popular in other areas with a distinct connotation, understanding touristification as a negative idea of tourism, like the massification of a destination or as a synonymous for gentrification or tourism-phobia. This situation discourages the use of the term and causes the necessity to question the usefulness of the concept, considered as too ambiguous or even empty. We argue for a correct use of the term touristification, focused on the territorial phenomenon and process it is meant to describe in a geographical approach without ideological preconceived notion, to construct knowledge from a territorial understanding of tourism in an ever-globalized world.
... Connections and networks within communities can facilitate knowledge transfer and learning as well as exchange of resources, particularly in times of need, and their composition can have an outsized impact on support, self-organization, and resilience in the face of challenges (Ramalingam 2013;Dacks et al. 2018). For instance, varivagana is an important cultural concept in Simbo, Solomon Islands, centered on generosity and reciprocal obligations across social networks (Lauer et al. 2013); in Hawai'i laulima emphasizes collective action supported by strong social networks (McGregor 2007). A growing number of international efforts aim to articulate and evaluate these types of connections, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Better Life Initiative metrics on support networks (OECD 2017). ...
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Achieving sustainable development globally requires multilevel and interdisciplinary efforts and perspectives. Global goals shape priorities and actions at multiple scales, creating cascading impacts realized at the local level through the direction of financial resources and implementation of programs intended to achieve progress towards these metrics. We explore ways to localize global goals to best support human well-being and environmental health by systematically comparing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with regionally-derived well-being dimensions that encompass components of social–ecological resilience across the Pacific Islands. Our research shows that, in the context of the Pacific, there are overlaps but also significant gaps between regional conceptions of well-being and the globally-derived SDGs. Some dimensions, related to human health and access to infrastructure and finances, are well represented in the SDGs. Other dimensions of high importance when localizing perspectives of well-being, such as those regarding connections between and across people and place and Indigenous and local knowledge, are not. Furthermore, internationally generated indicators may result in trade-offs and measurement challenges in local contexts. Creating space for place-based values in global sustainability planning aligns with international calls for transformational changes needed to achieve global goals. We identify challenges in applying SDG indicators at the local level and provide lessons learned to foster equitable and holistic approaches and outcomes for sustainability.
... Previous studies have shown that the decision to retreat and relocate depends on multiple social, cultural and economic factors. For example, in Solomon Islands and elsewhere, customary land and land tenure and the strength of their relationships with other (receiving) communities are critical factors that influence decisions to retreat or relocate (Lauer et al., 2013;Albert et al., 2017;Crichton and Esteban, 2018). Our study shows that the emphasis on social networks and locally-based solutions could be the reason why communities do not favor retreat as an adaptation option, even when such retreat was partial and within the same island. ...
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Coastal hazards pose a serious and increasing threat to the wellbeing of coastal communities. Adaptation responses to these hazards ideally need to be embedded in the local adaptation context. However, there is little understanding of factors that shape local adaptation choices, especially in rural and remote island settings. In this paper, we compile data on adaptation responses to coastal hazards and key factors that shape adaptation across 43 towns and villages in four Pacific island nations. Local communities cite erosion as a critical coastal hazard, even more often than coastal flooding and sea level rise. We find that communities prefer protective adaptation responses that use local knowledge and resources eand protect coastal ecosystems. Our findings reveal differences in preferred versus implemented adaptation responses.Ecosystem-based adaptation is the most commonly implemented response to coastal hazards. Seawalls and other hard structures are widely preferred and perceived as effective adaptation responses but are often not implemented due to a lack of social, institutional and technical capacity. Retreat is a highly unpopular adaptation response, and difficult to implement, as coastal communities in this study indicate a strong place attachment and are deeply embedded in their social and natural environment. Our results suggest that the selection of adaptation responses might involve important trade-offs between multiple, potentially conflicting, local priorities, such as the preference for seawalls and the need to protect coastal ecosystems. Findings emphasize the importance of considering the local context when making adaptation choices and show that even when responding to the same hazard, adaptation responses can vary significantly depending on local priorities and capacities.
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This perspective reflects on conservation efforts to increase the coverage of marine protected areas in Solomon Islands. We demonstrate that the current model in which international conservation NGOs provide technical and financial support to pilot projects, from which community‐based resource management will spontaneously spread, is misguided. These site‐based projects typically require substantial financial resources, ignore external threats to coastal ecosystems, and tend to bypass existing governance structures, which makes replication in other areas highly problematic. We argue that to effectively support indigenous peoples and local communities in the management of marine resources and, thereby, achieve biodiversity conservation outcomes at scale, it is necessary to move away from site‐based conservation projects and focus instead on strengthening the capability of government agencies.
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As the impacts of climate change increase, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in particular shall face increasingly significant adaptation challenges. Past climate adaptation efforts within SIDS have had limited success. As such, the purpose of this systematic literature review has been to identify areas of importance for facilitating climate adaptation, particularly within Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and more specifically, to assess the extent to which participatory justice within decision-making processes is recognised as an important component of climate adaptation through the lens of water management. This review process utilised the SPIDER tool to guide the literature search across SCOPUS, Web of Science and EBSCO host databases, generating 495 publications that were reduced to a total of 70 sources guided by PRISMA, informing the review's results and discussion. Thematic analysis of the selected studies was applied, utilising the Values-Rules-Knowledge framework. Through this analysis, five principles were created and comprise the major conclusions of this review: (1) ensuring community engagement, (2) expanding available options through local experimentation, (3) ensuring that monitoring and evaluation of adaptation initiatives are taken seriously, (4) adopting decision-making mechanisms that are systems-oriented and inclusive, and (5) investing only if there is a long-term commitment to protecting SIDS. It is hoped that these principles can serve as a comprehensive guide for funding agencies, applied projects and research aiding climate adaptation within SIDS.
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A survey of children in the small Pacific Island state of Samoa was undertaken through focus groups and drawings. This primary study of children of different ages demonstrated that children were aware of local environmental changes including those triggered by climate change. The majority of Samoan children of both genders were aware of the multiple dimensions of climate change affecting Samoa, namely rising temperatures, heavier rainfall, stronger winds, cyclones, and how these affected to varying degrees different parts of Samoa. Sea level rise was perceived to be a feature of future, rather than, current climate change. Gender variations reflected domestic activities of children, while village location influenced observations and perceptions of change. Their knowledge was informed by their experiences of recent events triggered by climate change and tectonic activities, attending school, as well as by listening to various media sources such as television and radio, and to family members. Younger children, aged 6-9 years, had a basic understanding of climate change. Older children, aged 10-15 years, were able to conceptualize future changes, and exhibited a degree of forward thinking that suggested potential resilience in the face of change.
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In 2007, a three-story-high tsunami slammed the small island of Simbo in the western Solomon Islands. Drawing on over ten years of research, Matthew Lauer provides a vivid and intimate account of this calamitous event and the tumultuous recovery process. His stimulating analysis surveys the unpredictable entanglements of the powerful waves with colonization, capitalism, human-animal communication, spirit beings, ancestral territory, and technoscientific expertise that shaped the disaster’s outcomes. Although the Simbo people had never experienced another tsunami in their lifetimes, nearly everyone fled to safety before the destructive waves hit. To understand their astonishing response, Lauer argues that we need to rethink popular and scholarly portrayals of Indigenous knowledge to avert epistemic imperialism and improve disaster preparedness strategies. In an increasingly disaster-prone era of ecological crises, this provocative book brings new possibilities into view for understanding the causes and consequences of calamity, the unintended effects of humanitarian recovery and mitigation efforts, and the nature of local knowledge.
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Resilience of food systems is key to ensuring food security through crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented shock that reveals varying levels of resilience of increasingly interconnected food systems across the globe. We contribute to the ongoing debate about whether increased connectivity reduces or enhances resilience in the context of rural Pacific food systems, while examining how communities have adapted to the global shocks associated with the pandemic to ensure food security. We conducted 609 interviews across 199 coastal villages from May to October 2020 in Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu to understand community-level impacts and adaptations during the first 5–10 months of the COVID-19 crisis. We found that local food production practices and food sharing conferred resilience, and that imported foods could aid or inhibit resilience. Communities in countries more reliant on imports were almost twice as likely to report food insecurity compared to those least reliant. However, in places dealing with a concurrent cyclone, local food systems were impaired, and imported foods proved critical. Our findings suggest that policy in the Pacific should bolster sustainable local food production and practices. Pacific states should avoid becoming overly reliant on food imports, while having measures in place to support food security after disasters, supplementing locally produced and preserved foods with imported foods when necessary. Developing policies that promote resilient food systems can help prepare communities for future shocks, including those anticipated with climate change.
Chapter
Political ecology has been widely applied to analyse processes of agricultural development, most notably where there are complex relationships between ecological, political and economic factors. Political ecology explores how the impacts of environmental change are felt unequally by economies and societies. Small island developing states, which often produce low levels of greenhouse gas emissions, yet are on the frontline of climate change impacts, demonstrate the unequal nature of the impact of environmental change. The unique vulnerabilities of small island developing states have been documented in numerous international environmental agreements. However, there is an absence of both political ecology in island studies and islands in political ecology. Here we make the case for adopting a political ecology approach when studying adaptations to environmental and climate change in small island developing states. We focus on several universal themes prevalent in islands research, notably: sovereignty, migration, disaster risk reduction and natural resource management trade-offs. This chapter also explores what political ecology can bring to the subject of climate and development in small islands, and concludes that a political ecology approach to sustainable development in small islands can support a reconceptualisation of the challenges faced, as well as reshape perceptions of adaptive capacity, and opportunities for future adaptation.
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This chapter takes the form of a cross-disciplinary conversation between an island archaeologist and an island geographer. We explore the contempo- rary state of island studies across and between our respective disciplines, as well as engaging key con- temporary island debates surrounding conceptual- isations of islands, island relations, deep time, the Anthropocene, resilience and indigeneity. We con- clude with important suggestions for a more inter- disciplinary approach to island studies, given how the figure of the island itself has moved from the pe- riphery to the centre of so many high-profile contem- porary debates, especially those concerning trans- forming planetary conditions and the Anthropocene.
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Small Island States (SIDS) are among the nations most exposed to climate change (CC) and are characterised by a high degree of vulnerability. Their special nature means there is a need for more studies focused on the limits to CC adaptation on such fragile nations, particularly in respect of their problems and constraints. This paper addressed a perceived need for research into the limitations of adaptation on SIDS, focusing on the many restrictions which are unique to them. The main research question raised by this study was that how and to what extent the challenges by human activities (e.g., agriculture and tourism) posed to coastlines of SIDS could be addressed. This paper identified and described the adaptation limits they have, by using a review of the literature and an analysis of case studies from a sample of five SIDS in the Caribbean and Pacific regions (Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Tonga). The findings of this research showed that an adaptable SIDS is characterised by awareness of various values, appreciation and understanding of a diversity of impacts and vulnerabilities, and acceptance of certain losses through change. The implications of this paper are two-fold. It explains why island nations continue to suffer from the impacts of CC, and suggest some of the means via which adequate policies may support SIDS in their efforts to cope with the threats associated with a changing climate. This study concluded that, despite the technological and ecological limits (hard limits) affecting natural systems, adaptation to CC is not only limited by such complex forces, but also by societal factors (soft limits) that could potentially be overcome by more adequate adaptation strategies.
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While mangroves are increasingly described as social-ecological systems (SESs), performing SES research is so much more than merely documenting local resource utilisation patterns in case studies. The aim of this paper is to review and show how ecological, human and institutional resilience could be understood and fostered in an era of uncertainty, through the adaptive cycle (AC) heuristic. Uncertainties come in many forms and shapes: climate change, social and economic dynamics, natural disasters, political and institutional disruption and ever-increasing public demands for participation. Social-ecological studies form windows of experimentation that can provide insights beyond their case-specific context. In order to synthesise and structure the cumulative knowledge base arising from existing and future studies, the need for a suitable overarching framework arose. Here, the AC heuristic represents the connectedness between variables of the mangrove SES versus the mangrove's accumulated capital (natural, built, human and social). We posit that the AC heuristic can be used to interpret spatial and temporal changes (ecological, social, economic, political) in mangrove SESs and we exemplify it by using the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as well as a century-long silviculture case. The AC, combined with the SES scheme, allows integration of the spatial-temporal dynamics and the multi-dimensional character of mangrove SESs. We also reviewed the ecosystem functions, services and disservices of mangrove SESs, linking each of them to SES capital and variable (fast or slow) attributes, which in turn are closely linked to the different axes and phases of the AC. We call upon mangrove scientists from the natural, applied, social and human sciences to join forces in fitting diversified empirical data from multiple case studies around the world to the AC heuristic. The aim is to reflect on and understand such complex dynamic systems with stakeholders having various (mutual) relationships at risk of breaking down, and to prepare for interactive adaptive planning for mangrove forests.
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Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are known to be particularly vulnerable to climate change, which poses a challenge to their economic and social development. This vulnerability is expressed in several ways, from exposure to sea level rises, to salt intrusion, and extensive droughts in some areas. Despite this rather negative trend, there are examples of initiatives where the vulnerability of SIDS can be reduced, and their resilience may be increased. Based on the paucity of the literature on concrete examples of successful climate change adaptation initiatives on SIDS, this paper presents an overview of pertinent challenges faced, and introduces two case studies from the Solomon Islands, which illustrate how much can be achieved by systematically pursuing adaptation strategies. The lessons learned from these case studies are outlined and some useful insights are provided, which may help SIDS to better foster the development opportunities with climate change adaptation offers to them.
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Pacific and other islands have long been represented as sites of vulnerability. Despite this, communities on many Pacific islands survived for millennia prior to the intrusion of people from Europe into their realm. An examination of traditional disaster reduction measures indicates that traditional Pacific island communities coped with many of the effects of extreme events that today give rise to relief and rehabilitation programmes. Key elements of traditional disaster reduction were built around food security (production of surpluses, storage and preservation, agro-ecological biodiversity, famine foods and land fragmentation), settlement security (elevated sites and resilient structures) and inter- and intra-community cooperation (inter-island exchange, ceremony and consumption control). Many of these practices have been lost or are no longer employed, while other changes in the social and economic life of Pacific island communities are increasing the level of exposure to natural extremes. Pacific islands, and their inhabitants, are not essentially or inherently vulnerable. They were traditionally sites of resilience. Colonialism, development and globalisation have set in place processes by which the resilience has been reduced and exposure increased.
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This article defines social resilience as the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political and environmental change. This definition highlights social resilience in relation to the concept of ecological resilience which is a characteristic of ecosystems to maintain themselves in the face of disturbance. There is a clear link between social and ecological resilience, particularly for social groups or communities that are dependent on ecological and environmental resources for their livelihoods. But it is not clear whether resilient ecosystems enable resilient communities in such situations. This article examines whether resilience is a useful characteristic for describing the social and economic situation of social groups and explores potential links between social resilience and ecological resilience. The origins of this interdisciplinary study in human ecology, ecological economics and rural sociology are reviewed, and a study of the impacts of ecological change on a resourcedependent community in contemporary coastal Vietnam in terms of the resilience of its institutions is outlined.
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The largest earthquakes are generated in subduction zones, and the earthquake rupture typically extends for hundreds of kilometres along a single subducting plate. These ruptures often begin or end at structural boundaries on the overriding plate that are associated with the subduction of prominent bathymetric features of the downgoing plate. Here, we determine uplift and subsidence along shorelines for the 1 April 2007 moment magnitude MW 8.1 earthquake in the western Solomon Islands, using coral microatolls which provide precise measurements of vertical motions in locations where instrumental data are unavailable. We demonstrate that the 2007 earthquake ruptured across the subducting Simbo ridge transform and thus broke through a triple junction where the Australian and Woodlark plates subduct beneath the overriding Pacific plate. Previously, no known major megathrust rupture has involved two subducting plates. We conclude that this event illustrates the uncertainties of predicting the segmentation of subduction zone rupture on the basis of structural discontinuities.
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ABSTRACT In this article, we draw on research among fisherfolk of Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands, to examine certain epistemological assumptions of the “indigenous knowledge” concept. We describe how approaches to knowledge in Roviana differ from prevailing models of knowledge that distinguish between cognitive aspects and other modalities of knowing. For many Roviana fishers, ecological knowledge is not analytically separated from the changing contexts of everyday activities such as navigating and fishing. Inspired by Roviana epistemologies, we argue that a practice-oriented approach provides a more sympathetic and informative theoretical framework for understanding knowledge and its role in contemporary marine-resource conservation efforts. The theoretical and methodological implications of the perspective are illustrated with examples from an ongoing marine conservation project in the western Solomon Islands that integrates indigenous knowledge, remote-sensing techniques, and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.
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In this synthesis, we hope to accomplish two things: 1) reflect on how the analysis of the new archaeological cases presented in this special feature adds to previous case studies by revisiting a set of propositions reported in a 2006 special feature, and 2) reflect on four main ideas that are more specific to the archaeological cases: i) societal choices are influenced by robustness-vulnerability trade-offs, ii) there is interplay between robustness-vulnerability trade-offs and robustness-performance trade-offs, iii) societies often get locked in to particular strategies, and iv) multiple positive feedbacks escalate the perceived cost of societal change. We then discuss whether these lock-in traps can be prevented or whether the risks associated with them can be mitigated. We conclude by highlighting how these long-term historical studies can help us to understand current society, societal practices, and the nexus between ecology and society.
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We explore the social dimension that enables adaptive ecosystem-based management. The review concentrates on experiences of adaptive governance of social-ecological systems during periods of abrupt change (crisis) and investigates social sources of renewal and reorganization. Such governance connects individuals, organi-zations, agencies, and institutions at multiple organizational levels. Key persons provide leadership, trust, vision, meaning, and they help transform management organizations toward a learning environment. Adaptive governance systems often self-organize as social networks with teams and actor groups that draw on various knowledge systems and experiences for the development of a common understanding and policies. The emergence of "bridging organizations" seem to lower the costs of collaboration and conflict resolution, and enabling legislation and governmental policies can support self-organization while framing creativity for adaptive comanagement efforts. A re-silient social-ecological system may make use of crisis as an opportunity to transform into a more desired state.
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The 1 April 2007 magnitude M(s) 8.1 earthquake off the New Georgia Group in the Solomon Islands generated a tsunami that killed 52 with locally focused run-up heights of 12 m, local flow depths of 5 m as well as tectonic uplift up to 3.6 m and subsidence down to -1.5 m. A reconnaissance team deployed within one week investigated 65 coastal settlements on 13 remote Islands. The ancestral heritage "run to high ground after an earthquake'' passed on to younger generations by survivors of smaller historic tsunamis triggered an immediate spontaneous self evacuation containing the death toll.
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Adaptation is a process of deliberate change in anticipation of or in reaction to external stimuli and stress. The dominant research tradition on adaptation to environmental change primarily takes an actor-centered view, focusing on the agency of social actors to respond to specific environmental stimuli and emphasizing the reduction of vulnerabilities. The resilience approach is systems orientated, takes a more dynamic view, and sees adaptive capacity as a core feature of resilient social-ecological systems. The two approaches converge in identifying necessary components of adaptation. We argue that resilience provides a useful framework to analyze adaptation processes and to identify appropriate policy responses. We distinguish between incremental adjustments and transformative action and demonstrate that the sources of resilience for taking adaptive action are common across scales. These are the inherent system characteristics that absorb perturbations without losing function, networks and social capital that allow autonomous action, and resources that promote institutional learning.
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Coupled human–environmental timelines are used to explore the temporal coevolution of driving forces and adaptive strategies from the 1960s to 2006 on Bellona in the SW Pacific. Climatic events and agro-environmental conditions are assessed in conjunction with issues such as population dynamics, agricultural strategies, non-agricultural activities, transport and infrastructure, migration, education, political conditions, etc. Satellite imagery and aerial photos reveal relative stability in agricultural land use intensity despite an increase in de facto population (51% from 1966–2006). Results of questionnaire survey of 48 households show that the utilization of natural resources (notably shifting cultivation and fisheries) remains widespread, although it is increasingly supplemented by other income generating activities (e.g., shopkeeping, private business, government employment). Group interviews are used to discuss ways in which the local communities’ adaptive resource management strategies have been employed in the face of climatic and socioeconomic events and changes in the recent past. Fifty years’ development is described as a combination of continuity and change. Resource management practices are only marginally impacted by different stress factors, but the importance of agriculture has been decreasing in relative terms. Culturally determined bonds have become a main ‘mechanism’ to cope with environmental or socioeconomic stress and the Bellonese have become less vulnerable to external shocks.
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Resilience is the magnitude of disturbance that can be tolerated before a socioecological system (SES) moves to a different region of state space controlled by a different set of processes. Resilience has multiple levels of meaning: as a metaphor related to sustainability, as a property of dynamic models, and as a measurable quantity that can be assessed in field studies of SES. The operational indicators of resilience have, however, received little attention in the literature. To assess a system's resilience, one must specify which system configuration and which disturbances are of interest. This paper compares resilience properties in two contrasting SES, lake districts and rangelands, with respect to the following three general features: (a) The ability of an SES to stay in the domain of attraction is related to slowly changing variables, or slowly changing disturbance regimes, which control the boundaries of the domain of attraction or the frequency of events that could push the system across the boundaries. Examples are soil phosphorus content in lake districts woody vegetation cover in rangelands, and property rights systems that affect land use in both lake districts and rangelands. (b) The ability of an SES to self-organize is related to the extent to which reorganization is endogenous rather than forced by external drivers. Self-organization is enhanced by coevolved ecosystem components and the presence of social networks that facilitate innovative problem solving. (c) The adaptive capacity of an SES is related to the existence of mechanisms for the evolution of novelty or learning. Examples include biodiversity at multiple scales and the existence of institutions that facilitate experimentation, discovery, and innovation.
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This study examines the acculturation of ethnobotanical knowledge in association with modernization by analyzing similarities and differences within a language group, the Roviana people of the Solomon Islands. Cultural consensus analysis and evaluation of either village-level or individual-level modernity were performed for seven villages. In one modernized and one less modernized village, detailed socioeconomic data at the individual level were collected. Intervillage variation of knowledge correlated with modernity only when the villages were referenced to the less modernized villages, while there was no correlation when the most modernized village was used as the base knowledge. An informant’s knowledge in the less modernized village was affected by socioeconomic factors, but this was not observed in the modernized village. From these results, I suggest that modern knowledge is easily integrated into the ethnobotanical knowledge system but is not directly related to the loss of indigenous botanical knowledge.
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We argue that globalization is a central feature of coupled human–environment systems or, as we call them, socio-ecological systems (SESs). In this article, we focus on the effects of globalization on the resilience, vulnerability, and adaptability of these systems. We begin with a brief discussion of key terms, arguing that socio-economic resilience regularly substitutes for biophysical resilience in SESs with consequences that are often unforeseen. A discussion of several mega-trends (e.g. the rise of mega-cities, the demand for hydrocarbons, the revolution in information technologies) underpins our argument. We then proceed to identify key analytical dimensions of globalization, including rising connectedness, increased speed, spatial stretching, and declining diversity. We show how each of these phenomena can cut both ways in terms of impacts on the resilience and vulnerability of SESs. A particularly important insight flowing from this analysis centers on the reversal of the usual conditions in which large-scale things are slow and durable while small-scale things are fast and ephemeral. The fact that SESs are reflexive can lead either to initiatives aimed at avoiding or mitigating the dangers of globalization or to positive feedback processes that intensify the impacts of globalization. In the concluding section, we argue for sustained empirical research regarding these concerns and make suggestions about ways to enhance the incentives for individual researchers to work on these matters.
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Early studies suggested that simple ecosystems were less stable than complex ones, but later studies came to the opposite conclusion. Confusion arose because of the many different meanings of `complexity' and `stability'. Most of the possible questions about the relationship between stability-complexity have not been asked. Those that have yield a variety of answers.
Thesis
This thesis is a study of the behaviour of Melanesians and Europeans in the New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands, from the beginning of European contact to the mid 1920s. For the first century of contact the islanders of the Group were able to exploit the opportunities created by European intrusion within the framework of their own culture, and to dictate largely the terms of their relationship with the white man. The imposition of colonial rule radically altered the situation. The forcible pacification of the islands destroyed the Melanesians' capacity to constrain the conduct of the Europeans in the Group and in consequence the European exploitation of the islands rapidly accelerated, particularly with regard to the alienation of land, which the colonial administration did much to encourage. The first two decades of colonial rule saw the interests and welfare of the islanders neglected as European commercial, missionary and official factions struggled amongst themselves for status and authority. These conflicts, and the mounting land problems, culminated in the Land Commission of the early 1920s. The Commission, although it too was almost submerged in inter-European rivalries, marked the adoption by the administration of a more responsible attitude towards the islanders. Other administrative reforms followed, and by the mid 1920s the turbulence and disorder that had accompanied colonial rule began to subside.
Article
Ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchy are all concepts that have been developed to explain abrupt and often surprising changes in complex socio-ecological systems that are prone to disturbances. These types of changes involve qualitative and quantitative alterations in systems' structures and processes. This paper uses the concepts of ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchies to compare ecological and human community systems. At least five important findings emerge from this comparison. 1) Both systems demonstrate the multiple meanings of resilience-both in terms of recovery time from disturbances and the capacity to absorb them. 2) Both systems recognize the role of diversity in contributing to resilience. 3) The comparison highlights the role of different forms of capital and 4) the importance of cross-scale interactions. 5) The comparison reveals the need for experimentation and learning to build adaptive capacities. All of these ideas have broad implications for attempting to manage complex systems with human and ecological components in the face of recurring natural disasters.
Article
When the full fury of Severe Category 5 Tropical Cyclone zoë was unleashed on Tikopia and Anuta, two of the world's smallest and most remote islands, between December 27 and 29, 2002 there was a world-wide up-welling of concern for the combined populations of less than 1800 village dwellers. Communities on the islands had been without two-way radio communication since early November and their ability to receive short-wave radio transmissions, particularly those from national and international weather services delivering tropical cyclone warning messages, was unknown. There was a very real possibility that the people had been un-warned and unprepared for Tropical Cyclone zoë and it was feared that loss of life and property in its wake must have been significant. However, with no viable communications and limited capacity within the Solomon Islands to mount a reconnaissance mission, there was no easy way to immediately find out. When news of the fate of the islanders began to trickle out, more than a week later, it emerged that both islands had been devastated but, miraculously, everyone had survived. This paper provides a brief overview of the environmental and societal impacts of Tropical Cyclone zoë, the efficiency of the national and international response and relief efforts, the resilience of the Tikopians and Anutans and finally, their capacity to rebuild and restore their devastated communities.
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Analysis of temporal constructs on Simbo (Eddystone) Island in the Western Solomons, based on data collected by Hocart and Rivers in 1908, and in more recent fieldwork in 1978, emphasises the rich symbolic and practical connexions between classifications of time and social stratification, and suggests that temporal classifications not only reflect but further legitimate inequalities in the social hierarchy. This is most clearly seen in the organisation and enactment of 'ritual' time, as suggested by Bloch; however, it is evident also in the organisation of routine activities, the degree of recognition accorded to particular temporal-markers bearing a close relation to the division of labour and the associated system of prestige. This article draws explicitly upon Bourdieu's proposition that temporal constructs play an active role in structuring practical action. Continuities are found to link traditional and modern conceptions of time, such constructs being shown to have contributed to the shaping of the islanders' response to change.
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This article examines how indigenous fisherfolk of the western Solomon Islands survived a magnitude 8.1 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the region in 2007. I reconstruct this cataclysmic event through local narratives, surveys, and ethnographic interviews collected in villages on Simbo Island and in Roviana and Vonavona Lagoons. I then compare the responses of the Solomon Islanders to reports and analyses of similar survivor stories among indigenous groups affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Results show that disaster analyses tend to relate effective indigenous responses with intergenerationally transmitted oral histories or culturally embedded stories and myths. These codified bodies of traditional knowledge or mental models about previous events are thought to be put into action when a disaster strikes. However, ethnographic interviews and surveys conducted with Solomon Islanders suggest that oral history was just one dimension of a response that involved an assemblage of local and global knowledges coalescing with performative and experiential practices. To more thoroughly conceptualize indigenous responses, I encourage a practice-based approach. I argue that this framework provides a more productive and inclusive analysis of the relationship between indigenous knowledge and responses to environmental hazards, while also facilitating more effective collaborations between indigenous people and disaster experts who seek participatory strategies of disaster risk reduction.
Book
Researchers studying the role institutions play in causing and confronting environmental change use a variety of concepts and methods that make it difficult to compare their findings. Seeking to remedy this problem, Oran Young takes the analytic themes identified in the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) Science Plan as cutting-edge research concerns and develops them into a common structure for conducting research. He illustrates his arguments with examples of environmental change ranging in scale from the depletion of local fish stocks to the disruption of Earth's climate system.Young not only explores theoretical concerns such as the relative merits of collective-action and social-practice models of institutions but also addresses the IDGEC-identified problems of institutional fit, interplay, and scale. He shows how institutions interact both with one another and with the biophysical environment and assesses the extent to which we can apply lessons drawn from the study of local institutions to the study of global institutions and vice versa. He examines how research on institutions can help us to solve global problems of environmental governance. Substantive topics discussed include the institutional dimensions of carbon management, the performance of exclusive economic zones, and the political economy of boreal and tropical forests.
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This report aims to strengthen the effectiveness of land policy insupport of development and poverty reduction by setting out theresults of recent research in a way that is accessible to a wide audience ofpolicymakers, nongovernmental organizations, academics in WorldBank client countries, donor agency officials, and the broader developmentcommunity. Its main message rests on three principles
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th century, been 'muted, rejected and subsequently discovered and celebrated' (237). The term has nevertheless provoked criticism because IK is seen as static, unchanging, and bounded, whereas in practice it is ever changing and dynamic. Paul Sillitoe defines it as 'a unique formulation of knowledge coming from a range of sources rooted in local cultures, a dynamic and ever changing pastiche of past 'tradition' and present invention with a view to the future' (113). The contributors argue that development cannot be meaningful unless IK is integrated into the development process. However, historically, IK has been, and largely continues to be seen as inferior to science. The volume explores ways of addressing this power imbalance, integrating the two knowledge systems and what the anthropologist's role in this process might be. It also critically analyses the ethical issues, disciplinary demands and other dilemmas faced by anthropologists. Key to this, is that anyone writing and engaging critically in action research has to deal with the crisis of representation. Who can write with authority about whom, and who owns the final product, (i.e. the ethnography) with respect to intellectual property rights? This is made more complex as participatory research is also informed by power dynamics among and between different stakeholders such as, the local community, the political establishment, the funding bodies and the NGO(s). More importantly, the contributors have acknowledged that IK and its holders are not homogenous and the anthropologist, wittingly or unwittingly, gives prominence to some voices thereby privileging a few over others. Despite the best intentions of the anthropologist, s/he cannot remain neutral. Anthropologists also have to balance the demands of academia and of action research (constraints of time and funding, and pressure for quick tangible results) as the two are not always compatible. Similarly, harmony between the needs and objectives of the local people, the researcher and the development agencies involved is often difficult to achieve, leading to complex ethical dilemmas for the anthropologist. Finally, development demands an interdisciplinary team effort, and a number of authors explore the constraints and challenges involved in working as part of interdisciplinary teams, especially when disciplinary boundaries continue to be firmly entrenched and well defended. Notwithstanding the challenges, this volume passionately argues for a central role for the anthropologist (with the exception of John Clammer in chapter three, who questions the ability of the anthropologist to undertake this responsibility) as the glue between the local community and the scientific community.
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In this paper I discuss some long-term continuities in the socio-political dynamics of customary marine tenure in the Melanesian South Pacific. Building on field research material from Solomon Islands, and paying close attention to the pan-Melanesian concept of kastom, I exemplify how customary marine tenure and its social contexts are challenged and transformed by external economic and political pressures. These challenges and transformations are discussed with reference to the emerging legislative contexts of customary tenure rights. General trends are identified for Solomon Islands, particularly regarding the management potential of customary marine tenure. It is argued that the relationship between external challenges andlocal transformations is not one-sided. Certain modern pressures may lead to organizational innovation and reinforce the political base of customary control over marine resources, as expressed by present systems of customary marine tenure.