A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania

[text from the back cover]

A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania represents the culmination of a three year project, the Oceania Wetland Inventory, sponsored jointly by the International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau (IWRB), Asian Wetland Bureau (AWB), South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Bureau of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (the Ramsar Convention). The project was funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service - Agency for International Development Grant Program for Biological Diversity, the French Secretariat d'Etat aupres du Premier Ministre charge de l'Environnement et de la Prevention des Risques Technologiques et Naturels Majeurs, the National Geographic Society, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the East-West Center of Honolulu through a grant to the Center from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

The Directory consists of a series of 25 reports describing the principal wetlands in the island nations and territories in the Pacific Ocean from the Republic of Palau in the west to Chile's oceanic territories in the east, and from the Northern Mariana Islands in the north to French Polynesia in the south. Well over 100 individuals and organizations have contributed to the Directory, most providing hitherto unpublished information on wetlands in Oceania. One hundred and eighty-two sites of international importance are described. These have been selected on the basis of criteria developed in relation to the Ramsar Convention. Although special attention is paid to the importance of the wetlands for wildlife, all wetland values, including water storage, flood control, coastal protection and fisheries production, have been taken into consideration.

The Directory thus provides for the conservation community a list of the highest priorities for conservation action. At the same time, it provides for governments and the development assistance community guidance on those sites where future activities will require the most intensive investment in environmental impact assessment and in the design and implementation of appropriate conservation measures.