VANUATU Prime Minister Jotham Napat has called on Pacific nations to act with courage and unity to protect the ocean, warning that climate change and overfishing are already threatening regional livelihoods.
Speaking at the Melanesian Ocean Summit in Port Moresby, Napat said marine biodiversity was declining and tuna stocks—vital for national budgets—would be disrupted by 2050 if immediate action was not taken.
Even with modern technology, there is no substitute for generational knowledge, Napat said.
“Our traditional custodians hold knowledge that no satellite can replace. Our scientists hold tools that no canoe can carry. We need both,” he told leaders.
Napat announced that Vanuatu would be proactive – protecting more than 17,000 square kilometres of its northern waters. That’s about 10 per cent of its exclusive economic zone. Plans are in place to expand protection once maritime boundaries are settled.
He stressed that working together will be essential, noting that no single nation can manage its exclusive economic zone alone.
Napat urged Melanesian countries to overcome colonial divisions by working together through a “Melanesian corridor” linking Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji.
Solidarity, not colonial borders, should shape the Pacific’s future, he said.
“We are not sacrificing our ocean to save it. We are choosing protection over extraction, and the long memory of our ancestors over the short-term interests of others,” Napat said.
Vanuatu has offered to host the next Melanesian Ocean Summit in two years.
Source: Post-Courier
