ENVR101 Pacific Islands: Adaptation and Transformation

Tuna Migration

There has been significant tuna migration this year, potentially due to rainfall and juvenile migration from Tonga about 20 years ago. These eels are now mature and migrating to the Tongan Sea.

Pacific Islands Focus

Discussion on how societies have adapted to and transformed their environments, focusing on contrasting examples of Pacific Islands.

Tekopea and Rapa Nui

Two Polynesian islands settled around the same time. Tekopea is a Polynesian outlier in Melanesia, settled by people from Tonga. Compares the islands in terms of sustainability.

Contrasting Views

Some islands are viewed as pristine with sustainable practices, while Rapa Nui is often portrayed as an example of ecological collapse due to deforestation. Western scientists have focused on Rapa Nui as a cautionary tale, though alternative explanations exist.

Rapa Nui's Deforestation

One theory suggests that the palm trees were cut down and used as rollers to transport Moai statues. Western beliefs and traditions have been inappropriately used to explain the environmental changes.

Historical Perspectives

In the 1980s, some questioned the romanticized view of indigenous societies' environmental ethics. Extreme views on human modification of islands were contrasted with the evolution of Western societies.

Research Funding

Research into environmental science has received substantial funding, even if based on questionable ideas.

Traditional Fisheries Management

Bob Johannes studied traditional fisheries management in the Solomon Islands, documenting concepts like customary fishing bans to replenish stocks. This contrasts with 19th-century Darwinist ideas of inexhaustible resources.

Rapa Nui Today

Tourism dominates the economy (90%), similar to how tourism makes up 8-10% of Aotearoa's economy. There's a reluctance to plant trees as the island's desolation attracts tourists.

Plastic Pollution

Rapa Nui faces issues with plastic waste from tourism, which is costly to export. Garbage patches exist in the Pacific, including one near Rapa Nui.

Refuse Burden

The island struggles with waste management due to high tourism levels. Some propose innovative solutions like building houses from rubbish.

Collaborative Research

Research involves collaboration with local Rapa Nui researchers and those from Chile and other countries, analyzing sediment cores for geochemical signatures to understand past environmental changes.

Explanations for Deforestation

One explanation involves wars between families leading to resource exploitation and deforestation before European contact. Disease and slave trade also had massive impacts on society.

European Impact

Diagrams illustrate colonial enterprises' arrival. Rapa Nui had early and significant contact with whalers and slave traders, leading to societal transformation, disease, and depopulation.

Re-evaluation of Rapa Nui

Environmental changes may be inaccurately dated, and societal changes were more likely caused by European colonization.

Rapa Nui Summary

Was Rapa Nui destroyed by its people (ecocide)? Is this a Western narrative? Focus on deforestation overlooks the impact of European colonization, similar to New Zealand. This distracts from current issues like plastic pollution and climate adaptation.

Tekopea as a Contrast

Presented as the opposite of ecocide, a sustainable society. It's a tiny, independent island in the Southeast Solomons, self-dependent with limited government support. Remittances from the diaspora in Adelaide, Australia, are crucial.

Sustainability Measures

Jared Diamond used it as an example of eradicating pigs to protect root crops and planting canary nut trees. However, basic boats still go down there, and emergency infrastructure is lacking.

Raymond Firth's Anthropological Work

The economist wrote extensively on Tekopea's history, traditions, and social structures, with his books highly regarded by the island's chiefs. Visitors get painted in turmeric and coconut oil.

Traditional Practices

The practice of Rahui is used by closing off resources for various reasons.

Resource Utilization

Women harvest everything available from the reef, but sustainability is questionable due to the small size of the fish being harvested.

Outmigration

Eldest sons inherit family roles. Second-born sons must leave the island. Old traditions and events, such as volcano eruptions where record in genealogies.

Natural Disasters

Research has also revealed a large-scale tsunami around 550 years ago, recorded in traditions. This relates to other tsunamis recorded throughout the Pacific.

Volcanic Relationship

The tsunami was triggered by a large vocanic eruption 1450 that saw resettlememt of Northern Vanuatu.

Climate Impacts

Frequent cyclones, particularly category five, impact Tekopea due to its location and ocean temperatures. Emergency protocols and cave shelters help the population survive, but crops are often lost.

Other Islands

Ouarapa (Santa Ana) is known for chief Alban. He requested a memorable moment of photos with his deceased father stored in a burial boat. Also a lake that turns red during distinct climate phases.

Western Solomon Islands

Tete Pade and monitoring the rainforests on the island. The islanders also tell of a clash between island populations.

Leaf Wax

Analysis of leaf waxes trapped in lake sediments provides rainfall data via hydrogen isotopes. High rainfall may have led to the abandonment of Tetapari due to challenges in producing root crops.