Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs in the Southwest Pacific
Population Population Per capita Population
(increase %) per km2 GDP in US$ Distribution
Fiji 775,077 (2.0) 42 2,118 15% (Suva)
Nauru 12,460 (2.9) 593 17,486 N/A
New Caledonia 193,386 (2.0) 10 12,753 60% (Noumea)
Samoa 170,000 (0.5) 58 1,018 20% (Apia)
Solomon Ids 408,358 (3.4) 14 739 High (Honiara)
Tuvalu 10,144 (1.7) 390 7,053 40% (Funafuti)
Vanuatu 177,400 (2.8) 15 1,309 25%
(Port Vila & Louganville)
Basic demographic and economic data for countries in the Southwest Pacific.
need became particularly evident in early 2000 when large-scale coral bleaching affected
many of the coral reefs in the region, but there was little information on the condition of the
reefs beforehand to determine the scope and scale of this bleaching event. Hopefully
better monitoring will be in place to document and compare any future bleaching events,
as well as other stresses.
REEFS AND PEOPLES IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC ISLANDS
The reefs and islands in the 7 southwest Pacific countries and states vary from tiny atolls to
large, high islands with all coral reef types. The smallest nation is Nauru, a single island of
21km 2 with a fringing reef of 7.4km 2 . The largest country is the Solomon Islands which has
28,370km 2 of land area an extensive EEZ. New Caledonia consists of a large continental
island (Grande Terre) surrounded by one of the longest barrier reefs in the world enclosing
one of the region’s largest lagoons. Most of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu are
high volcanic islands, whereas Nauru is a raised calcareous platform and Tuvalu is
comprised of a series of atolls. There are more than 2,100 islands, islets and cays, almost all
with coral reefs. Together, these countries control large Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs)
totalling over 6.0 million km 2 . Therefore oceanic fisheries (especially tuna) are a primary
foreign exchange earning source for most of these countries.
Most of these southwest Pacific countries have large concentrations of people clustered
into a few urban centres, with the remainder living in rural, remote, coastal communities.
Population densities in Nauru and Tuvalu are among the highest in the world. New
Caledonia has a large expatriate population in the urban area of Noumea. The GDP of most
countries is mostly very low. Population growth rates are very high and there is a heavy
reliance on reef resources for food security. These countries include a diversity of cultural
groups: Polynesian (Samoa, Tuvalu), Micronesian (Nauru) and Melanesian peoples (Fiji,
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia). Fiji is a mixture of Melanesian and Polynesian
people, with a large Indo-Fijian population (40% of total). Collectively more than 100
languages are spoken throughout the region.
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