The international institutional framework for seabird conservation in the South Pacific

The Pacific Island region is home to over 60 species of seabirds including terns, noddies, tropicbirds and frigatebirds. Seabirds breed and migrate widely throughout the Pacific, feeding on fish at sea and breeding on low-lying and geographically remote atolls. In recent years, seabirds of the Pacific have been at increased risk from hunting, fisheries by-catch (incidental catch), invasive species (feral cats, pigs and rats), over-development and climate change. There are considerable gaps in the way legal protections operate for seabirds. In addition, Pacific Island inclusion is noticeably absent from many of the more well-established multi-stakeholder governance arrangements such as the East Asian-Australian Flyway Partnership and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. In this chapter, the authors provide an evaluation of the international, regional and domestic governance arrangements in place to protect seabirds. The chapter focuses on breeding sites which are vitally important for seabirds, and how some of the threats may be reduced, especially in countries that have considerable seabird populations, such as New Caledonia, Kiribati and French Polynesia.