About
Land Resources Division
About the Land Resources Division (LRD)
Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs)
are geographically, ecologically, sociologically and economically
diverse. The region is home to an estimated 9.5 million people on
islands with a land area of 550,000 km2 surrounded by the largest
ocean in the world. Five of SPC’s 22 member PICTs (Fiji Islands, New
Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) account
for 90 per cent of this total land area and more than 85 per cent of
the population. The region is also home to some of the world’s
smallest island states and territories, such as Nauru, Tuvalu and
Tokelau. The importance of the agriculture and forestry sector in
sustaining livelihoods varies greatly.
These sectors remain the mainstay of the economy
and employment in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and
contribute significantly to household income and increasingly,
export earnings. In contrast, in some of the smaller PICTs,
agriculture is mainly based on subsistence farming and activities in
the forest and trees sector involve management of watersheds and
coastal forests, and agroforestry development. PICTs face numerous
social and physical challenges in maintaining and improving the
productivity of their agriculture and forestry sectors and
protecting their biological diversity.
They are prone to natural disasters and their
size and geographical isolation result in a narrow genetic and
production base with limited opportunities to develop their
economies by scaling-up production. In the forestrich countries,
unsustainable logging in response to shortterm economic needs is
destroying valuable forest resources with negative economic, social
and environmental impacts on rural communities. Additionally, the
drift of youth to urban centres in many PICTs has resulted in
shortages of labour in rural areas and increased social problems in
towns. Many PICTs also face significant challenges associated with
rapidly growing populations. For example, in the smaller PICTs,
growing numbers of humans and animals live in close proximity,
increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted by
animals) and pollution caused by agricultural activities (fertiliser
run-off, animal waste).
Increased regional and global trade and travel
and associated movement of people (tourists, travelling residents,
fishers) have also heightened the risk of introducing unwanted plant
and animal pests, weeds, diseases and other alien invasive species,
threatening the fragile ecosystems and resource base of PICTs. More
broadly, PICTs face a number of social challenges that also impact
on the land resources sector. For example, rural to urban migration
has the potential to reduce agricultural production and increase
reliance on imports; and there are strong links between the rising
incidence of ‘life-style’ diseases, such as diabetes and heart
disease, and increased consumption of processed foods rather than
staple food crops. Climate change will exacerbate many of these
challenges.
Related disasters such as tropical cyclones,
flash floods and droughts impose serious constraints on development
in the islands, so much so that some PICTs seem to be in constant
‘recovery-mode’. Food availability and people’s access to food are
among the first essentials to be affected following such disasters.
LRD faces the challenge of ensuring its activities support the needs
of all of our member countries despite their diversity. The division
is keenly aware of the need to address transboundary issues and
commonalities and ensure that each member can benefit from lessons
learnt in others. We also recognise the need to tailor our approach
to the specific concerns of individual member countries and
territories, especially when addressing the needs of small island
states.
Click to download the
LRD
Strategic Plan document (180KB)
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