Vaka Moana: A journey to an inspiring and engaging Pacific Ocean - Satellite Activity for an inspiring and Engaging Ocean

For an inspiring 2 hours on Thursday 8 July 2021, 190 participants from 14 countries gathered virtually across the region for a journey on the Vaka Moana...voyaging towards an inspiring and engaging Pacific Ocean.

With 6 amazing panellists from diverse backgrounds in the region including theology, academia, science and research, including indigenous knowledge, and perspectives from Pacific young people, scientists, navigators and policy advisors - together we reflected on Pacific-led solutions for the ocean we want, the connection between our traditional knowledge and identity with the ocean, and our young people and early career ocean professionals as the leaders of today and tomorrow. 

Four Pacific poets and composers grounded us in our heritage, reminding us how we are inextricably linked with the Moana, the Blue Pacific. 

With these reflections and creative contributions, the audience engaged in the Futures Triangle, answering questions and adding their voices about the weights of the past, the push of the present and the pull of the future as we journey towards an inspiring and engaging Pacific Ocean.  

Their voices were captured and reported back live, with the rich insights to inform the forward actions and advocacy of the Pacific Community. Taking participants’ voices into action for an inspiring and engaging Ocean.

Through this virtual gathering, we co-created our vision of what an inspiring and engaging Pacific Ocean looks like to us. And we’ve done so with the premise that the future is created by us, we prepare and take with us what we need on our vaka, including the dynamism and boldness of young people, as we chart our course together. For details of the Futures Triangle document capturing the collective visions shared, this can be made available by the Pacific Community. 

This deep, reverent connection with the Ocean and indigenous knowledge passed down through millennia is invaluable in the Pacific region. The ocean is us, we are the ocean, and we are all in this together. 

🎦 Watch the full session here.

Vaka Moana: Weaving traditional and modern science to understand current and future ocean conditions

The Pacific is a major driver of the global climate. Pacific Islanders are directly impacted by what is happening in this vast Ocean and are the first witnesses of these changes.

People in the Pacific are using both traditional and modern knowledge of the ocean to understand and predict how the ocean is affecting their livelihood.

For our voyage through the Pacific, we will follow a current system that will take us from the heart of Polynesia, going West through Melanesia, then turning fast eastward along the equator as we share our ocean stories weaving traditional and modern science to understand our ocean conditions.

Vaka Moana: A healthy and resilient Pacific Ocean
 

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The objective of this Lab is to showcase the variety of activities that the Pacific (SPC, partners and members) carries out in support of increasing the understanding, protection, and marine ecosystems, such as:

• Providing regional stock assessments, scientific analyses, and advice to support evidence-based fisheries management
• Monitoring tuna stock and ecosystem health in partnership with its members through the WCPFC region's tuna tagging programme, vessel and observer logsheets, and tuna biological sampling programmes
• Member countries provide their fisheries data to SPC's data management team to underpin SPC's technical work and advice.
• Building the capacity of its membership in all these areas 

Vaka Moana: A Safe Pacific Ocean

The Vaka Moana: A Safe Ocean virtual event featured experiences from the Pacific about improving the early coastal hazard warning systems and how to improve the safety of maritime transport against these hazards.

The ‘Vaka Moana: A Safe Pacific Ocean’ satellite event is part of a series of Pacific contributions to the UN Ocean Decade global event.

This event focused on the theme of ‘A Safe Pacific Ocean’ where society understands and values the ocean in relation to human well-being and sustainable development.

Vaka Moana: An accessible Pacific Ocean

The ‘Vaka Moana: A Safe Pacific Ocean’ satellite event is part of a series of Pacific contributions to the UN Ocean Decade global event. This satellite event will focused on the theme of ‘A Safe Pacific Ocean’ where society understands and values the ocean in relation to human well-being and sustainable development.

Our Blue Pacific region is 98 per cent ocean and Pacific Islanders are custodians of 20 per cent of the world’s exclusive economic zones with the healthiest tuna stocks globally. Pacific coastal communities, ocean ecosystems and ocean users are exposed to increasingly devastating oceanic hazards. The frequency and intensity of wealth and climate-related hazards are changing, exacerbating the impacts of these hazards. The COVID-19 pandemic has also disrupted global transport - in particular the airline industry -to increase reliance on global shipping, presenting both challenges and opportunities for the safety and livelihoods of the Pacific. Tools, processes, higher density ocean data and forecasting for evaluating and mitigating risks, as well as formulating adaptive responses are needed to maximise ocean safety and reduce risks on the coast and at sea. This satellite activity will showcase actions in the Pacific aimed at improving the early coastal hazard warning systems and how to improve the safety of maritime transport against these hazards. It will address two key issues: Early Ocean Hazard Warning Systems and Maritime Safety.