A NEW and improved ocean portal has been unveiled at the Pacific Islands Ocean Conference in Honiara.
This innovative platform is designed to place accessible, reliable, and user-friendly ocean and climate data directly in the hands of island nations and communities.
The redeveloped portal draws on over a decade of user feedback from across the region. It combines data from Pacific sources and international partners—including the World Meteorological Organization and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission—into one powerful, easy-to-use platform.
“The portal’s functions reflect 10 years of feedback from Pacific users. It demonstrates the scientific and technical excellence of Pacific people—it is by the Pacific, for the Pacific,” said Jens Kruger, Deputy Director for the Pacific Community’s Ocean and Maritime Programme.
Kruger emphasized that the launch overturns perceptions that the region lacks technical capacity: “For too long, people underestimated our expertise. What you see here today is a tool designed to respond directly to the needs of Pacific decision-makers, practitioners, and communities.”
The Pacific Ocean Portal allows users to access:
- Interactive maps and real-time forecasts
- Historical datasets and future climate projections
- Customizable national dashboards, enabling governments to host secure local data and decide what to share publicly
This makes the system “usable, useful, and ultimately used”—a leap forward from previous platforms.
Solomon Islands Deputy Secretary Corporate for the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, Karl Kuper welcomed the launch as “a symbol of partnership, of progress, and of positive leadership.”
“This is more than just a website,” he said.
“It is already informing coral reef protection, maritime safety, tourism, fisheries, and disaster preparedness. By making complex data accessible and actionable, ocean and climate services are robust, locally relevant, and people centered.”
The portal has already been rolled out in 15 Pacific Island countries through training sessions, with expansion planned for territories such as American Samoa. Its users range widely:
- Fishers can check tide, sea-level, and wave conditions before going out to sea
- Students and researchers can visualize datasets and generate maps and graphs
- Tourism operators and maritime authorities can plan safer operations and reduce risks
- Policymakers can draw on real-time data for evidence-based decisions
Regional universities have begun incorporating the tool into their curricula, signaling its growing educational impact.
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The portal was developed through the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with the Climate and Ocean Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac), with long-standing technical and financial backing from Australia and New Zealand.
“This achievement reflects the resilience and innovation of the Pacific. It will continue to empower our communities, inform our decisions, and strengthen our collective ability to face a changing climate,” Kuper said.
The launch concluded with the official unveiling of the platform and a live demonstration showing how users can navigate, generate forecasts, and download datasets.
The Pacific Ocean Portal is now live at oceanportal.spc.int and available free to the public.