Preliminary re - survey of the land snail fauna of Rotuma: conservation and biosecurity implications

In May 2012 Rotuma Island, the main island of the remote Rotuma Group (Fiji), was surveyed to document the composition of the non-native land snail fauna and to investigate if populations of previously recorded native land snail species persist. From sampling at nine locations, twenty-one land snail species from eleven gastropod families were found. Of these, eight species are non-native and two of these Parmarion martensi Simroth, 1893 and Quantula striata (Gray, 1834) (Ariophantidae) are new records for the Rotuma Group. Ten of the 13 species of native land snails found – including the endemic partulid Partula leefi E.A. Smith, 1897 and the rhytidid Delos gardineri (E.A. Smith, 1897) – were detected only as empty shells. The native Ouagapia perryi (E.A. Smith, 1897) and the endemic Succinea rotumana E.A. Smith, 1897 and Sinpolyea rotumana (E.A. Smith, 1897) remain undetected on Rotuma Island since their first collection in 1897. The non-native, invasive predatory flatworm, Platydemus manokwari, was also found and represents a major threat to the island’s land snail fauna. This non-native species appears to be absent in many other parts of the Fiji Island archipelago and thus a re-evaluation of existing quarantine measures is required to address its potential spread to non-invaded areas. Comparisons with earlier surveys indicate a shift in the structure of the Rotuman land snail fauna over a 115-year period, with declining native components and increasing prevalence of non-native species. Further sampling, focusing on residual native habitat in less accessible areas such as coastal cliffs and off-shore islets, is urgently needed to establish the conservation status of Rotuman native land snails and determine the threat posed by both, non-native snails and P. manokwari

Documentation of Fiji's endemic and introduced land snail fauna

This document is part of a technical report series on conservation projects funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the Conservation International Pacific Islands Program (CI-Pacific). The main purpose of this series is to disseminate project findings and successes to a broader audience of conservation professionals in the Pacific, along with interested members of the public and students. The reports are being prepared on an ad-hoc basis as projects are completed and written up. In most cases the reports are composed of two parts, the first part is a detailed technical report on the project which gives details on the methodology used, the results and any recommendations. The second part is a brief project completion report written for the donor and focused on conservation impacts and lessons learned. The CEPF fund in the Polynesia-Micronesia region was launched in September 2008 and will be active until 2013. It is being managed as a partnership between CI Pacific and CEPF. The purpose of the fund is to engage and build the capacity of non-governmental organizations to achieve terrestrial biodiversity conservation. The total grant envelope is approximately US$6 million, and focuses on three main elements: the prevention, control and eradication of invasive species in key biodiversity areas (KBAs); strengthening the conservation status and management of a prioritized set of 60 KBAs and building the awareness and participation of local leaders and community members in the implementation of threatened species recovery plans. Since the launch of the fund, a number of calls for proposals have been completed for 14 eligible Pacific Island Countries and Territories (Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Fiji, Niue, Cook Islands, Palau, FSM, Marshall Islands, Tokelau Islands, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Eastern Island, Pitcairn and Tokelau). By late 2012 more than 90 projects in 13 countries and territories were being funded. The Polynesia-Micronesia Biodiversity Hotspot is one of the most threatened of Earth’s 34 biodiversity hotspots, with only 21 percent of the region’s original vegetation remaining in pristine condition.  The Hotspot faces a large number of severe threats including invasive species, alteration or destruction of native habitat and over exploitation of natural resources.  The limited land area exacerbates these threats and to date there have been more recorded bird extinctions in this Hotspot than any other.  In the future climate change is likely to become a major threat especially for low lying islands and atolls which could disappear completely

They've always been here but we could not hear them. We could not see them

In 2019, the international year of indigenous languages, and the year after the University of the South Pacific’s 50th anniversary, we are celebrating an achievement that we had never thought possible: the introduction of degree programmes in Cook Islands Māori, Rotuman, Tongan and Niuafo‘ou, Vagahau Niue, and Vanuatu Language Studies, alongside Fijian, the only indigenous language that had had a place in our curriculum until 2018. These programmes are aimed at fluent speakers of the languages of study, and they use these languages as medium of teaching and assessment. For the first time, English is therefore being challenged as the only language through which high-level concepts can be discussed, and through which academic research can be conducted. For the first time, Pacific languages will be taught in schools by teachers who are qualified to do so, rather than by fluent speakers who have been trained to teach other subjects. For the first time, our students can gain credit for delivering oral presentations, written essays and creative pieces in their dominant language. Even for the students who do not choose to take up this option, or who do not yet have a language programme open to them, the possibility of studying a Pacific language at our university is becoming normalised. Our aim in coming together to share our story is to lay out its complexity. If we are serious about the sustainability of these programmes, we need to engage with this complexity, and we need to keep talking about why all this matters. We need our leaders and our allies to understand that the actions we take at our university will impact the way the indigenous languages and cultures of this region are valued, used and transmitted to the next generations

They've always been here but we could not hear them. we could not see them. New degree programmes in Pacific languages at the University of the South Pacific: Stories of success and determination

At the University of the South Pacific’s 50th anniversary, we celebrated the introduction of degree programmes in Cook Islands Māori, Rotuman, Tongan and Niuafo’ou, Vagahau Niue, and Vanuatu Language Studies, alongside Fijian, the only language Indigenous to the region that had previously featured in our curriculum. For the first time, English is being challenged as the only language through which high-level concepts can be discussed, and through which academic research can be conducted. Pacific languages will now be taught in schools by teachers who are qualified to do so, rather than by fluent speakers trained to teach other subjects. Students can now submit assignments in their dominant language. The possibility of studying a Pacific lan-guage is becoming normalised. Our coming together here is to share the complexity of this story. We need to engage with this complexity and keep talking about why all of this matters. We need our institutional and politi-cal leaders and allies to understand that the actions we take at our university will impact the way the languages and cultures of this region are valued, used and transmitted to the next generations.falseParis. Franc

' Regionalism - A Reform Concept and its Application to Spain'

Abstract. Regionalism is a notably elusive political idea. In the paper an attempt is first made to identify various propositions that are general among contemporary European regionalists: a commitment to territorial reform of a nonfederal character, a belief that regional autonomy promotes political stability and spreads prosperity, and a notion of complementarity between European integration and internal devolution. In the second part of the paper the relevance of these propositions to Spain are considered

State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops

Crop landraces have unique local agroecological and societal functions and offer important genetic resources for plant breeding. Recognition of the value of landrace diversity and concern about its erosion on farms have led to sustained efforts to establish ex situ collections worldwide. The degree to which these efforts have succeeded in conserving landraces has not been compre hensively assessed. Here we modelled the potential distributions of eco-geographically distinguishable groups of landraces of 25 cereal, pulse and starchy root/tuber/fruit crops within their geographic regions of diversity. We then analysed the extent to which these landrace groups are represented in genebank collections, using geographic and ecological coverage metrics as a proxy for genetic diversity. We find that ex situ conservation of landrace groups is currently moderately comprehensive on aver age, with substantial variation among crops; a mean of 63% ± 12.6% of distributions is currently represented in genebanks. Breadfruit, bananas and plantains, lentils, common beans, chickpeas, barley and bread wheat landrace groups are among the most fully represented, whereas the largest conservation gaps persist for pearl millet, yams, finger millet, groundnut, potatoes and peas. Geographic regions prioritized for further collection of landrace groups for ex situ conservation include South Asia, the Mediterranean and West Asia, Mesoamerica, sub-Saharan Africa, the Andean mountains of South America and Central to East Asia. With further progress to fill these gaps, a high degree of representation of landrace group diversity in genebanks is feasible globally, thus fulfilling international targets for their ex situ conservatio