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Pacific traditions
must be meshed
with technology

Conferees at the East-West
Center urge integration

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By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Native knowledge and traditions must be incorporated with modern knowledge and technology to respond to Pacific climate changes, delegates agreed at a conference this week at the East-West Center.

Emphasizing that point, the Workshop on Climate and Island Coastal Communities opened with a chant and dance by Kumu John Kaimikaua and Halau Kukunaokala, and closed with a talk by Waianae community leader Puanani Burgess.

About 150 Pacific and Caribbean government, business, science and community representatives discussed the impact of climate change and needs for education and outreach, dialogue and better communication of usable climate information.

The workshop was intended not only to share information, but to spur action to cope with extreme weather events, said Eileen L. Shea, the East-West Center's Climate Project coordinator.

For example, she said, islands cannot respond effectively to drought if they do not maintain their water distribution systems and infrastructure.

"Information brokers" are proposed to help translate climate information for those who need to know it. In some island settings, Shea said, "we are not making good headway."

Marine biology professor Robert Richmond, of the University of Guam Marine Lab, called the meetings "very positive" because of the wide diversity of delegates.

Pacific islands are learning, even if they do a good job of managing resources, that they cannot escape global stresses caused by industrialized nations, Richmond said in an interview.

Marine resources must be maintained for subsistence and the foundation of culture in the islands, Richmond emphasized. "It gets to the crux of society."

He said political will is needed "to address the problems, to deal with what we're seeing and plan for the future."

Islands such as Hawaii and Guam cannot do anything to control hurricanes, but they can take steps to reduce potential damage, such as getting people to prepare for them, said Ricardo Alvarez, deputy director of the International Hurricane Center in Florida.

It is difficult for policy-makers to transmit that message, however, when many people have no knowledge or memory of hurricanes. "This is a huge human factor," he said. Communication problems also hamper efforts to reduce human vulnerability to climate changes, Alvarez said.

On Palau, for example, costs are prohibitive even to surf the Internet, he said.

Partnership between Palau's emergency managers and the Hurricane Center in Florida has been proposed.

"We should realize we're all in this together," Alvarez said. "This is our planet."