A damaged stretch of coastline, a changing food garden or a patch of recovering forest can disappear inside a single pixel on a global satellite map. For Pacific Island countries, that can mean changes visible on the ground are missing from the data used to assess land degradation.
At a joint plenary session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) on Support Hubs for Reporting and Technical Advisors, held during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the Pacific Community (SPC) highlighted the need for reporting systems that reflect the scale, geography and capacity of Small Island Developing States.
Drawing on SPC’s work as a Support Hub for Reporting with 14 Pacific countries, the presentation highlighted the need for data that accurately represents small islands, earlier technical and financial support, realistic reporting timelines and a stronger focus on implementation between reporting cycles to achieve land restoration and resilience.
During the CRIC/CST Joint Plenary Session, the Cook Islands welcomed SPC’s contribution as a Support Hub for Reporting, noting that the shared perspectives reflected the realities faced by Pacific Small Island Developing States.
Ms Sandee Cook, National Environment Service, Cook Islands, said access to higher-resolution data and sustained capacity development were critical for meaningful reporting.
“SPC has captured the realities of the Pacific well. For the Cook Islands, access to higher-resolution data is essential if reporting is to reflect what is happening on the ground, particularly in small island contexts where global datasets do not always tell the full story. Equally important is capacity building that continues beyond the reporting cycle, so countries can strengthen national expertise, ownership and long-term reporting capacity.”
For the 2026 UNCCD reporting process, SPC is supporting 14 Pacific countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Naoero, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Satellite images are made up of pixels, with each pixel representing an area on the ground. Global datasets provide a consistent way to assess land across countries, but their resolution may not capture changes occurring across small islands or narrow land features.
Satellite observations can also indicate that a landscape is changing without explaining why. A change detected from space may be linked to agriculture, clearing, fire, drought, a cyclone or vegetation recovery. The integration of satellite observation, field verification, national scientific and local community knowledge is critical for understanding how and why our lands are changing.
Through Digital Earth Pacific, SPC hosts shared Earth observation infrastructure for the region, bringing together satellite data, field observations, regional knowledge and country priorities to support products countries can use.
Ms Andiswa Mlisa, Digital Earth Pacific Programme Manager from SPC, said countries need to be able to examine global data within their own national context.
“Global satellite-based data gives countries a consistent starting point, but it does not always capture the scale and complexity of Pacific islands. The data needs to be examined alongside national datasets, field observations and what people know about the land. Bringing these sources together allows countries to identify where change is occurring, verify the evidence and produce an assessment that reflects their national context.”
Support includes bilateral country consultations, a regional capacity-building workshop in Rarotonga, a Support Hub helpdesk, recurring peer-learning webinars, and guidance on PRAIS4, the UNCCD’s online national reporting platform, QGIS, Trends.Earth and land degradation neutrality indicators. In Solomon Islands, SPC delivered a five-day virtual training programme focused on the geospatial reporting tools and land degradation neutrality indicators.
Speaking during the COP17 Joint Plenary, Ms Mlisa highlighted the importance of providing countries with funding and technical support earlier in the reporting cycle.
Pacific government teams are often small and manage several environmental commitments. When resources arrive too close to the deadline, countries are forced to rush work that should be careful, consultative and nationally owned. Earlier support gives countries time to analyse data, consult stakeholders and verify results across dispersed islands — essential for credible national assessments.
Linking reporting with practical land cover, land restoration and land degradation neutrality implementation projects also creates evidence countries can use beyond submission. “Better implementation creates better data, and better data creates better reporting.” said Ms Mlisa
The message presented at UNCCD COP17 has wider relevance across international environmental and climate reporting: systems work best when their science, resources and timelines reflect island realities.
SPC will continue advancing Pacific-owned science and evidence through the Pre-COP31 Stakeholder Programme in Nadi, Fiji, from 5 to 8 October 2026, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026, and COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.
SPC representatives take part in a Pacific land degradation reporting workshop.
An SPC representative participates in a regional land degradation reporting workshop in Rarotonga.
