Shankar Aswani

The major causes of mortality and morbidity have changed from infectious diseases and malnutrition conditions to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Melanesian societies. However, a massive earthquake and its related changes might have disturbed the patterns. This study aimed to explore which health problems were likely to be prevalent during the recovery process from the 2 April 2007 earthquake in the Solomon Islands. Participants were recruited in Titiana, a severely damaged village located near a town; Tapurai, a severely damaged remote village; Mondo, a severely damaged, medium urban village; and Olive, a control village. Health indicators measured were classified into communicable and nutritional conditions (malaria, malnutrition, infection status and child growth) and NCDs (overweight/obesity, hypertension and diabetes). Titiana residents were more at risk of infectious conditions (C-reactive protein greater than and equal to 1 mg/dL) and obesity (BMI greater than and equal to 30 kg/m²). Tapurai and Mondo residents were at risks of infectious conditions and becoming overweight (BMI greater than and equal to 25 kg/m²), respectively. Titiana and Mondo residents complained about insufficient subsistence production. The urban communities were found to be at risks of both communicable and NCDs. Controlling the urbanisation as well as providing continuous support against infectious conditions during the recovery process would be beneficial.

This study reports on the growth and nutritional status of females in Roviana (population 12 235), Solomon Islands, where there are fewer surviving females than males in all age groups (male/female = 1.10; Solomon Islands Government 2000). Anthropometric measurements were performed for 1243 voluntary participants from seven villages. The results showed that females were better nourished than males; weight-forage z-scores, for instance, were better for females than those for males throughout all age groups, with statistical significance in the following age groups: younger than 5 years, 10-14 years and 15-19 years. The same pattern was also observed for adults. Results suggest that gender inequality might not be caused by social discrimination.

Abstract:  Increasing migration into urbanized centers in the Solomon Islands poses a great threat to adjacent coral reef fisheries because of negative effects on the fisheries and because it further erodes customary management systems. Parrotfish fisheries are of particular importance because the feeding habits of parrotfish (scrape and excavate coral) are thought to be critical to the resilience of coral reefs and to maintaining coral reef health within marine protected areas. We investigated the ecological impact of localized subsistence and artisanal fishing pressure on parrotfish fisheries in Gizo Town, Western Solomon Islands, by analyzing the density and size distribution of parrotfish with an underwater visual census (UVC), recall diary (i.e., interviews with fishers), and creel surveys to independently assess changes in abundance and catch‐per‐unit‐effort (CPUE) over 2 years. We then compared parrotfish data from Gizo Town with equivalent data from sites open to and closed to fishing in Kida and Nusa Hope villages, which have different customary management regimes. Results indicated a gradient of customary management effectiveness. Parrotfish abundance was greater in customary management areas closed to fishing, especially with regard to larger fish sizes, than in areas open to fishing. The decline in parrotfish abundance from 2004 to 2005 in Gizo was roughly the same magnitude as the difference in abundance decline between inside and outside customary management marine reserves. Our results highlight how weak forms of customary management can result in the rapid decline of vulnerable fisheries around urbanized regions, and we present examples in which working customary management systems (Kinda and Nusa Hope) can positively affect the conservation of parrotfish—and reef fisheries in general—in the highly biodiverse Coral Triangle region .

Marine biologists are increasingly aware of the impact that even small human populations can have on coral reefs around the world, while conservationists and fisheries managers have a growing appreciation of the importance of culturally informed management strategies in coral reef conservation efforts. Despite these recognitions, however, examples of integrated field studies are limited. In this paper evidence from various disciplines is used to study the interaction between humans and one of the largest reefs in the Marquesas Islands, at Anaho Bay, Nuku Hiva Island, with the aim of assessing possible anthropogenic impacts over time. First, it reports on a marine biological survey of the benthic substrates of the bay and the taxonomic composition and spatial distributions of the local fish species. Second, it draws on results from an ongoing archaeological study and integrates these with interviews of village elders to gain a historical perspective on the reef and potential human impacts. The biological results indicated that the reef is in a state of decline, although fish densities are moderately high. The archaeological evidence, in turn, demonstrates that human populations have occupied this valley for at least the last 700 years. Throughout this period marine resources have been an important source of both food and raw materials for tools. The archaeological study also highlights aspects of landscape change, both natural and human‐induced, that probably have been detrimental to reef health. Using the combined biological and anthropological data, this paper considers the nexus of factors that have led to the current reef conditions and considers management issues for the future. Key in this regard are processes that have initiated erosion and soil run‐off, and fluctuations in the local human populations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Given the frequent socioeconomic, political and concomitant ecological failures of science-driven marine protected area (MPA) programmes, it is now important to design MPAs by integrating natural and social science research more comprehensively. This study shows how indigenous peoples assisted in the design of MPAs by identifying marine substrates and related resident taxa on aerial photos, information which was then incorporated into a geographical information system (GIS) database, along with dive survey data. Two questions were asked: (1) Is indigenous ecological knowledge accurate enough for mapping the benthos and associated taxa? (2) Is such an approach an appropriate way for assisting in the biological and social design of MPAs in Oceania? Conventional quadrat field dive surveys were used to measure the accuracy of substrate identification by local informants and a visual survey was used to test hypotheses formulated from local knowledge regarding the spatial distribution and relative abundance of non-cryptic species within certain benthic habitats. Equivalence rates between indigenous aerial photo interpretations of dominant benthic substrates and in situ dive surveys were 75–85% for a moderately detailed classification scheme of the benthos, which included nine locally-defined abiotic and biotic benthic classes for the MPA seabed. Similarly, the taxa inventory showed a strong correspondence between the qualitative predictions of local fisherfolk and the quantitative analysis of non-cryptic species distribution, including their relative abundance and geophysical locations. Indigenous people's predictions about the presence or absence of fish in different benthic habitats corresponded 77% and 92% of the time (depending on scoring schema) with in situ visual measurements. These results demonstrate how incorporating local knowledge of benthic heterogeneity, existing biological communities, and particular spatio-temporal events of biological significance into a GIS database can corroborate the production of scientifically reliable base resource maps for designing MPAs in an environmentally and culturally sound fashion. This participatory approach was used to design and then establish MPAs in the Roviana and Vonavona region of the Western Solomon Islands. Under appropriate conditions, interdisciplinary work can complement the design of scientific fishery management and biodiversity conservation prescriptions for coastal Oceania.

Indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure may be integrated with marine and social science to conserve the bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. Three aspects of indigenous ecological knowledge in Roviana were identified as most relevant for the management and conservation of bumphead parrotfish, and studied through a combination of marine science and anthropological methods. These were (1) local claims that fishing pressure has had a significant impact on bumphead parrotfish populations in the Roviana Lagoon; (2) the claim that only small bumphead parrotfish were ever seen or captured in the inner lagoon and that very small fish were restricted to specific shallow inner-lagoon nursery regions; and (3) assertions made by local divers that bumphead parrotfish predominantly aggregated at night around the new moon period and that catches were highest at that time. The research supported claims (1) and (2), but did not support proposition (3). Although the people of the Roviana Lagoon had similar conceptions about their entitlement rights to sea space, there were marked differences among regional villages in their opinions regarding governance and actual operational rules of management in the Lagoon. Contemporary differences in management strategies resulted from people's historical and spatial patterns of settlement across the landscape and adjoining seascapes, and the attendant impact of these patterns on property relations. This was crucial in distinguishing between those villages that held secure tenure over their contiguous sea estates from those that did not. Indigenous ecological knowledge served to (1) verify that the bumphead parrotfish was a species in urgent need of protection; (2) explain how different habitats structured the size distribution of bumphead parrotfish; (3) identify sensitive locations and habitats in need of protection; and (4) explain the effect of lunar periodicity on bumphead parrotfish behaviour and catch rates. Secure customary sea tenure identified locations best suited to bumphead parrotfish management programmes, with a greater likelihood for local participation and programme success. The information was used to establish two marine protected areas in the region for bumphead parrotfish conservation.