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• Past Interventions
• Current Issues for Solomon Islands
• Programme Response

The physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the ocean and island ecosystems of the Solomon Islands create both opportunities and constraints to its development. The recognition of these ecosystems, as components of the Earth system - a dynamic, complex blend of environmental, economic and social factors interacting in a myriad of ways - is absolutely fundamental to the understanding of sustainable development.

The overall goal of the Ocean and Islands Programme, to improve scientific knowledge of ocean and island ecosystems for the sustainable management of natural resources, demonstrates a clear role in ecosystem management, with interventions focused on mapping and monitoring the physical and chemical attributes of ecosystems, and to providing resource use solutions and assessments to its island States membership. The Ocean and Islands Programme also provides assistance and support toward the development of sound policies and regulations, and meeting obligations under various treaties and agreements such as the United National Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Outputs under the resource use solutions and monitoring the physical and chemical change in ecosystems components of the Programme can address many of the Solomon Islands issues that relate to sustainable development. These issues will need to be considered by the Solomon Islands Government when they develop their National Sustainable Development Strategy and related plan of action.

Past Interventions

The geological and geophysical characteristics of the Solomon Islands are such that there is remarkable mineral potential both on land and offshore. Since the 1970s, SOPAC has been involved in investigations for both petroleum and deep-sea mineral occurrences within the Solomon s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), marine scientific research activities to better elucidate the complex and interesting tectonics of the area, as well as assessments of mineral resource occurrences in the coastal areas and on land.

Various projects undertaken by SOPAC have confirmed the Solomon Islands mineral potential, both on land and offshore. They include:

• Numerous collaborative marine scientific research campaigns between SOPAC and international marine scientific research institutions have resulted in research cruises being conducted in various EEZs of SOPAC member countries, including the Solomon Islands. Soms of the research vessels that have operated within the EEZ of the Solomon Islands, for the express purpose of marine scientific research include the Charles Darwin, S.P Lee, Natushima, and the Moana Wave, used for the CCOP-SOPAC Tripartite Programme with Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. Such cruises have been instrumental in the acquisition and analysis of marine geophysical data and geological samples. Aside from the deep-sea cruise campaigns other exploration and research activities have also been completed in coastal waters and on land. The results of these various activities confirm the presence of precious corals, hydrocarbons, gold deposits, and alluvial garnets.
• The European Union-funded SOPAC Maps Project, which commenced in 1993, involved a series of cruises in the EEZs of the following SOPAC member countries: Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The Project aimed to gain an accurate assessment of the potential of living and non-living resources of selected areas of the ocean floor within the EEZs of the selected countries. At the time state-of-the-art mapping technology was used to get detailed imagery and bathymetry information of the seafloor. From this comprehensive map products and accompanying reports were produced. The results of this project indicate a range of minerals, as well as living resources present within those areas of the EEZ of the Solomon Islands that formed part of the survey. For example: Studies of the Central Solomon Trough, suggest oil potential as the most promising mineral resource, while the Malaita area revealed a concentration of living resources (deep sea species sedentary and pelagic). Mineral resources in the Melanesian Arc Gap and the North Hebridies Back Arc areas were confirmed to be of hydrothermal origin, while the area s living resources were predominantly fish species. The Pandora Bank and the Alexa/Charllote Banks area were found to contain mineral resources known as polymetallic nodules, and also fish species (Kroenke, 1995).

With respect to monitoring of coastlines, SOPAC has over many years conducted beach-profiling programmes along selected areas of coastline within many of its member countries. Beach profiling activities have been carried out in the Solomon Islands, to address the coastal erosion issues at Ranadi Beach, as well as part of the assessments relating to placer gold in Matepono, and alluvial garnet potential in nearshore areas.

Other initiatives that have been undertaken over the last two decades for the Solomon Islands have aimed to strengthen policy and regulations toward more considered, strengthened natural resources management. The following provide examples of the types of activities that have been completed:

• Preparation of a Petroleum Database and Petroleum Data Package, which contains all relevant details on data gathered by various petroleum exploration companies as well as petroleum data, maps and reports (Rodd and Prasad, 1993).
• Advisory role in the drafting of the 1987 Solomon Islands Petroleum Act and petroleum regulations (Barclay, 1993)
• Audited the Department of Mines and Geology and recommended options for institutional strengthening.
• Training Solomon Island nationals in Earth Science and Marine Geology through the formal Certificate in Earth Science and Marine Geology course offered by SOPAC and an important capacity building element of SOPACs three key technical programme areas.
• Conducted an environmental audit of Gold Ridge Mine.
• Completed a risk assessment of wrecked vessels, ships and aircrafts located in Iron Bottom Sound, which were sunk during World War II.
• Training attachments at the Secretariat and in country in the areas of geological and geo-technical techniques and, database development using MapInfo?.

Current Issues for Solomon Islands

Numerous environmental, economic and social issues and concerns have been cited in the National Assessment Report of the Solomon Islands. It is envisaged that the Ocean and Islands Programme can, either wholly or in part, work with the Solomon Islands toward addressing the following concerns through assistance to:

• Strengthen international support for the exploitation of deep-sea minerals in a sustainable manner.
• Provide technical expertise to support the acquisition of physical baseline data such as geophysical data which includes side-scan imagery, swath bathymetry and seismic and long-term, sustained monitoring of oceanographic conditions of coastal areas this includes the physical and chemical parameters of the ecosystem, which have often been overlooked. * Develop a sound regulatory framework, with appropriate policies and legislation for marine which need to include both living and non-living resources and the biodiversity of resources.
• Strengthen institutional and administrative capacity on policies pertaining to sustainable development.
• Strengthen capacity of national agencies, ministries and departments.
• Improve understanding of the ecosystem that is the physical and chemical components to provide sufficient data and information for increased protection of biodiversity resources within the context of sustainable use.
• Develop focussed capacity building activities in order to address the lack of local technical expertise in science and technology, as well as the lack of trained personnel and appropriate management infrastructures to develop endogenous technologies.
• Strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations that work with local communities in order to increase community awareness and understanding of Island Systems Management, for sustainable use of their coastal and marine resources.
• Progress maritime boundaries delimitation activities and preparation of a potential claim to an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.

Programme Response

The Ocean and Islands Programme addresses the sustainable development of island ecosystems as a whole. This is reflected in the components of the programme, which include regional programmes as well as responses to specific requests from the member countries themselves.

The following regional projects cover the Solomon Islands:

• The establishment and maintenance of a Regional Deep-sea Minerals Database.
• The Certificate of Earth Science and Marine Geology (CESMG), which seeks to build the capacity of island member nationals in the areas of applied Geoscience and forms the basis, for some, to pursue higher education in degree courses in Geoscience.
• SOPAC s monitoring of the physical and chemical change in ecosystems of island member countries embraces the philosophy of Global Ocean Observing Systems (GOOS), which advocates public access to long-term oceanographic data and information. The recently established regional alliance of GOOS, the Pacific Islands Global Ocean Observing System (PI-GOOS) , seeks to ensure that relevant applications for ocean observations and resulting products from global, regional and national long-term observing systems are developed and made available to Pacific Island end-users in order that they can make better decisions for sustainable development.
• The South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project, which provides tide gauge and other data, and related products, collected over the past fifteen years.
• SOPAC also offers assistance in the area of Ocean Governance, by offering professional development programmes for strengthening legal and negotiation skills of advocates for maritime boundary delimitation , the implementation of Part XIII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) through the provision of technical skills and policy advice and the coordination of the Law of the Sea related issues in their member country regions including the Solomon Islands.

In response to current specific requests from the Solomon Islands, SOPAC is offering technical assistance to the development of the Solomon Islands Offshore Mineral Policy. SOPAC is also conducting a preliminary assessment of the deep-sea mineral potential of the EEZ of the Solomon Islands as well as the acquisition of environmental baseline data for use in environmental assessment and mining activities.