Page 30 - IB FEB 2019

Indepth

Tale of the Blue Pacific Continent

IndepTh this month focuses on the address of the 2017 chair of the endowment is our greatest asset that must be sustainably managed
pacific Islands Forum, prime Minister of Samoa Tuilaepa Lupesoliai for the benefit of our present and future generations. Therefore as
Sailele Malielegaoi at last december’s UnFCCC COp24 in Katowice, guardians of the largest portion of the pacific Ocean, our leadership
poland. he gave the address at the side event of the Office of the as the Blue pacific matters greatly.
pacific Ocean Commissioner at the pacific and Koronivia pavillion. he Coral reef ecosystems created our atoll islands and they are
spoke on the theme, ‘Understanding the Ocean Climate Crosswalk: our natural barriers that protect shorelines from storm surge and
A pacific perspective.’ erosion – defending our villages, businesses,
government structures and residents
Blue Pacific at coastal areas.
Samoa and our pacific Island Forum mem-
bers see ourselves as a Blue pacific Action on Ocean
continent. That should not come as As a region, we have
a surprise to you all because we adopted a number of
recognise the geostrategic, eco- ocean related com-
nomic, cultural and ecological muniques and
importance of the world’s larg- declarations and
est ocean, the pacific Ocean, take pride in
which we call our home. our leadership
on ocean gov-
Importance of the Ocean ernance ar-
The pacific Ocean has rangements.
provided our island com- W e h a v e
munities their cultural and estab-
historical identity and at- lished a
tachment since time imme-
morial. The ocean exceeds
land masses by an average
factor of 300 to 1, and the
pacific peoples rely on the
ocean for food, income, cul-
ture, and recreation that are
so pacific Ocean it also means
we are custodians of some of
the world’s richest biodiversity
and marine resources. We
recognise that this natural

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa
Sailele Malielegaoi

30 Islands Business, F
30 Islands Business, February 2019ebruary 2019