Page 14 - Islands Business October 2023 edition

COP28 COP28

BOILING POINT

By Richard Naidu “It’s always the danger of, you know, the pot of water
that boils and they don’t know until it’s too late,” he said,
It’s taken 70 years but some of the life is slowly coming referencing the analogy of the frog sitting in the slowly
back around Bikini atoll, ravaged by the United States’ warming pot of water, oblivious to the growing danger.
nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands immediately after World “So, we have to be cognisant of that. Marshall Islands is
War Two. an example of things that can go wrong very quickly, but
For a team from the National Geographic Pristine Seas it’s also signs of hope in some of these remote places—what
project, it’s a study in contrasts to visit Bikini and another the world could look like—if we take a step back and think
neighbouring atoll impacted by the bombs. And then to take about what sustainability looks like, but more importantly
in two remote atolls that are 60 hours by boat from the what sustainability means. And it means different things to
capital, Majuro, earmarked by the government for protection. different people. But at some point, we need to be at least
On a five-year project to support communities and on the same page about what’s the scale of impacts that the
governments across the Pacific in their efforts to protect the planet can absorb.”
ocean, the researchers are working with the government and
regional leaders in the Marshall Islands to find out more about Broken thermostat
these safe harbours for whales, sharks, turtles, and countless Dr Austin Kerby runs Corals for Conservation, a Fiji-based
fish and birds, with an eye toward protecting them. not-for-profit organisation that works with communities,
The Marshallese conservation plans are in keeping with how the tourism industry, and NGOs on coral reef restoration for
it has developed one of the most sustainably managed tuna climate change adaptation.
stocks in the world. A pioneer in the field of coral reef restoration, Dr Kerby has
For Dr Alan Friedlander, chief scientist with the expedition, been working for over 30 years to establish coral nurseries
the Marshalls represent what the world could look like if the and restoration sites across the Pacific and Caribbean because
planet’s sustainability was a common goal. coral reefs will be “the first marine ecosystem to collapse
“We can be very self-absorbed and not be aware of our from rapidly warming seas in the coming few decades. This
surroundings,” Dr Friedlander said in an interview with Islands vital and most diverse marine ecosystem on Earth is now on
Business. the front-line of the present environmental crisis,” the Corals

Castle Bravo Crater on Bikini Atoll. Photo: Jesse Goldberg, National Geographic Pristine Seas

14 Islands Business, October 2023