Pacific Island Life

An Autobiogeographical Journey

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Fiji-based Professor of Pacific Islands Biogeography, Randy Thaman, has worked with tireless dedication in academia and the natural resources sector in the vast Pacific Island region since he joined The University of the South Pacific (USP) in 1974. The USP is collectively owned by 12 Pacific Island states, five of which are IUCN State Members. He is the only USP staff member to have researched and published on all 12 USP countries.

OUR ISLAND HOME

Includes all agroecosystems, including associated fallow sand protected areas, in both rural and urban areas.

ISLAND & OCEAN BIODIVERSITY

Our ability to conserve biodiversity and to adapt to climate, environmental and economic change in the Pacific Islands

ISLAND AGROBIODIVERSITY

Includes all agroecosystems, including associated fallow sand protected areas, in both rural and urban areas.

ISLAND ETHNOBIODIVERSITY

Increased development of soil quality indicators taking into account the biological function of soils

OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE : SUSTAINABLE ISLAND & OCEAN DEVELOPMENT

Increased development of soil quality indicators taking into account the biological function of soils

THE SILENT INVASION : INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES & DISEASES

Increased development of soil quality indicators taking into account the biological function of soils

In recognition of his outstanding services to the conservation of nature and natural resources, Professor Randolph Robert Thaman of the University of the South Pacific was awarded an Honorary Membership of IUCN Award by IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature at the 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea.

Professor Thaman has been a member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas since 1998, a founding member of the IUCN Commission of Education and Communication, and a past member of the Oceania Regional Committee. He has been co-author of the state of environment reports for Kiribati and Tuvalu for 1992 Rio Summit, the NEMS for Nauru, and conservation area plans for Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati, including the plan for Fiji’s only Ramsar site. Most recently he represented Fiji in the successful establishment of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

“Konai is a widely published poet whose work is studied by school children throughout the Pacific region and beyond; many of her poems have been translated into several languages including Chinese, French, and German.”