Endangered Coral Reefs in the South Pacific

The Arnavon Islands lie midway between Santa Isabel and Choiseul of the Solomen Islands. Amidst a paradisiacal setting of white beaches, lagoons and coral reefs live an extraordinary richness of marine animals. The Arnavon Islands are one of the most important rookeries in the western Pacific for the endangered hawksbill turtle. The area's marine environment supports commercially prized animals such as beche-de-mer (sea cucumbers), trochus, black and gold lip pearl oysters, and giant clams.

The area's cash economy has traditionally relied on harvesting these organisms. Three villages, Kia, Posarae and Waghena, share rights to resource extraction from the Arnavons. Harvesting activities were traditionally carried out on an "open access" basis according to tenurial rights vested in these villages. But in the 1980's when prices for shellfish went way up, so did the temptation to overharvest them. In classic boom and bust style, one by one, the stocks were depleted

So what's being done about these problems?

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