Results for Environment

Tongan geologist Taaniela Kula said this evening that a Late Iki Island (also known as Metis Shoal) eruption over the last two days was emitting only steam, heat and gas into the atmosphere. While there may be a hazard within 4-5 kilometers radius of the vent, another hazard may be volcanic fog that can form downwind from the island causing inconvenience in civil aviation and maritime operations.

Haveluliku youth planted 200 Kauri trees (Agathis robusta) on September 24 under a project which aims to strengthen communities resilience by enhancing land tenure systems.

An exhibition held under the theme ‘Increase Climate Action to Save Tonga’ saw government departments, civil society organisations, private sector, and others showcase what they are doing to combat climate change at the Queen Salote Memorial Hall today, 16 August.

An exhibition explaining the science behind climate change and its effects was officially launched on 11 June at the Taufa’ahau Tupou IV Domestic Wharf. The exhibition was initiated by scientists working in Antarctica who felt the public needed to be informed about the impacts they were seeing caused by climate change.

A group of students from Cornell University, an Ivy League research university in Ithaca, New York, were in Nuku’alofa last week to look at the impact of climate change in Tonga as part of their workshop focusing on the Pacific.

There is a growing and urgent need to rid Tonga of plastics, say youth groups who are on the frontline of a fight against single use plastics. The youth who conduct regular rubbish collections in coastal and popular picnic areas and public places say the problem of plastic waste is getting worse. By Eleanor Gee.

A legal workshop to draft an Act for Tonga’s Marine Spatial Plan (MSP) which will oversee its ocean space was discussed by legal advisers and policy experts across government ministries yesterday, 24 January, at the Tanoa Hotel.

A new marine navigation chart survey of the waters of Ha‘apai and Nuku‘alofa, has discovered uncharted marine volcanoes that are big enough to sink a cruise ship. Tonga's marine charts, among the oldest still in use, are being updated using airborne laser, metric sonar and an unmanned submarine- enhancing Captain Cook's fathoms measurements made by ropes in the 18th century. By Eleanor Gee.

The successful relocation of Tukuraki, a Fijian village in the highlands of Ba, Viti Levu, to a new site is a prime example of the future of climate resilience, a reality faced by communities vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters in the Pacific. Their new houses were built to withstand Category 5 cyclones and cost less then FJD$26,000 each with bathrooms. By Eleanor Gee.