Results for Pacific Islands

A large fruit-eating bird from Tonga joins the dodo in the line-up of giant island pigeons hunted to extinction. New research into fossils shows that ‘Tongoenas burleyi’, a newly described genus and species, inhabited the Pacific islands for at least 60,000 years, but vanished within a century or two of human arrival around 2,850 years ago. The size of a large duck, ‘T. burleyi’ was likely capable of swallowing fruit as big as a tennis ball, said study lead author David Steadman.

A total of $24.2 million has to date been provided by the United States to support efforts to prevent and respond to the spread of COVID-19 in the Pacific Islands, through support for humanitarian partners, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and UN World Food Program (WFP).

A study led by Massey University to look at the barriers to self-management of asthma in Pacific children has been awarded $971,541 by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. Pacific people are three times more likely to be hospitalised with asthma than Europeans or other New Zealanders, said Principal Investigator Dr Sunia Foliaki.

Today, the Pacific governments, together with donor partners, launched the Health Care on Air Pacific training to be aired on radio and other communication platforms for front-line healthcare workers across 14 Pacific Island countries. One of the greatest challenges currently facing healthcare systems in the Pacific is how to provide front-line healthcare workers with training on managing COVID-19 infections when they arise

Tonga is one of the world’s most exposed countries to climate change and natural disasters, according to an International Monetary Fund and World Bank assessment report of Tonga’s Climate Change Policy.

Burial mounds are widely scattered across the Tongatapu landscape. When you land at Fua’amotu airport, they line the runway. When you drive into Nuku’alofa, they can be seen to either side of the road. All but a few are without name, and the individuals buried within are long lost to history. Yet these mounds represent a story that literally is inscribed on the landscape. Using airborne LiDAR data, a computer application was developed to count the mounds. The total was astounding, including upwards of 10,000 of these sites on Tongatapu - about 40 mounds for every square kilometre. By Travis Freeland and David V. Burley.

A massive joint effort between New Zealand Government agencies, employers, and the Vanuatu Government is underway to repatriate over 1000 Vanuatu nationals stranded in New Zealand, NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark said today.

Air New Zealand will resume passenger flights between Auckland and Shanghai next week, with passengers subject to government border controls in each direction.

Tongan seasonal workers grounded in Australia are making use of relaxed regulations in the country, finding new jobs with different farms and employers. By Finau Fonua.