Results for Pacific Islands

People first arrived in Vava‘u between 850 and 810 BC, establishing themselves on the south central islands offshore of ‘Uta Vava’u. The earliest sites at Ofu, Pangaimotu and Otea are all but identical in their age, and they are coincidental with the oldest sites in Ha’apai. Bird remains aside, excavations of other types of food remains at these sites have an unexpected story to tell: one of scarcity. Fish remains were shockingly limited! Shellfish counts and species diversity are similarly impoverished, illustrating limited productivity, or at least limited sustainability, for reef foraging efforts. By David V. Burley.

A Tropical Cyclone Alert remains in force for Tonga today, as Tropical Depression (TD 04F) in the Western Pacific, moving toward Fiji and Tonga, is expected to bring strong gale force winds to the Niuas starting tomorrow morning, with storm force winds over southern Tonga during the weekend. Fua'amotu Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre issued a weather warning at 6:00pm Thursday 16 January 2020.

The installation of new weather stations and sea level monitoring equipment throughout Tonga has been a huge logistical exercise, six months in the planning and another year in the implementation. Tonga welcomes 2020 with 21 new weather stations and two sea level monitoring stations.

Health services for over half a million people in four Pacific countries, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, will benefit from a project that is helping to improve overall immunization coverage rates and support greater efficiency of primary health care.

Measles continues to plague Samoa with 32 deaths now confirmed by the nation’s Government today. Samoa’s Ministry of Health reports the death of two teenagers and 243 measles cases recorded in the last 24 hours.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF are calling on Pacific communities to vaccinate against measles in response to recent outbreaks of measles in Tonga and Samoa.

The final day of deliberations by Pacific Islands Forum leaders ended in a disagreement on how they might tackle the issue of climate change. Tonga's PM caught media attention for Tonga’s participation when he was reported to be in tears during tense exchanges between the Tuvalu PM, Hon. Enele Sosene Sopoaga and the Australian Prime Minister, Hon. Scott Morrison.

A world-class and historic collection of barkcloth from the Pacific Ocean is highlighted in a new exhibition opening at the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum on August 29. “Barkcloth: Revealing Pacific Craft” is the result of a major three-year research project.

A ‘climate crisis’ has been declared by Pacific Island States, including Tonga, after signing the Nadi Bay Declaration earlier this week, calling on developed countries to urgently address climate change including phasing out coal mining and fossil fuel use and production.