ALM UNDP

Summary:

It is recognised that development and social changes have placed pressure on sensitive environmental systems and sectors of the Cook Islands and therefore adverse impacts of anticipated changes in climate and sea level rise will further exacerbate the stress on these systems. For the Cook Islands to respond successfully and implement appropriate adaptation strategies each major sector has identified information gaps and capacity building requirements that must be addressed.The most vulnerable sectors identified are agriculture and food security, coastal zone and coral reefs, marine resources, water resources and biodiversity.

The Cook Islands comprises 15 small islands scattered off the northeast coast of New Zealand.  The islands are divided geographically along a line between Palmerston and Suwarrow into a Northern Group (six islands) and a Southern Group (nine islands). The total land area is 240 sq. km with over 88 per cent (214 sq. km) of the area in the Southern Group. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Cook Islands covers approximately 1.8 million square kilometers of the South Pacific Ocean.  The population is primarily gathered on the island of Rarotonga.  Tourism is by far the country's main industry, with other industries such as pearls, offshore banking and the export of marine and fruit products.  

A. Adaptation Needs and Priorities

As climate change progresses, the Cook Islands are anticipated to be at greater risk due to sea level rise, extreme rainfall events, storm surges, strong winds and extreme high air temperatures (ADB, 2005). These changes are expected to adversely affect the following priority sectors:  coastal and coral reefs; agriculture, food security and diet; marine resources; water resources; and biodiversity. To enhance capacity to address the impacts of climate change, the following priority actions have been identified by the Cook Islands (CIES, 1999):

• Gain more information about flora, fauna and how their interactions are and will change. 
• Understand circulation processes within lagoons and the influence of climate to assist in the understanding of pearl and mariiculture production, shallow lagoons, lagoon flushing and lagoon temperature change.
• Gain knowledge on the interactions between marine flora and fauna and the effects of external influences on these species and their interactions, such as: pelagic fisheries migration and recruitment; gene bank of marine flora/fauna; and model low diversity marine ecosystems.
• Understanding of ecosystem rejuvenation after implementation of traditional conservation management practices  (e.g. Ra’ui Island).
• Identify specific integrated effects affecting marine resources, such as coastal sedimentation from rainfall runoff through Avatiu Harbour.
• Capacity building in areas like: local physical oceanography expertise; systems/ecosystem approach; environmental ocean modeling of tuna and other pelagic stocks; training and equipment  required; and an improvement in the biological species database.