Traditional knowledge (TK) on weather and climate is an important aspect of community life in the Pacific. Used for generations, this knowledge is derived from observing biological and meteorological variables and contributes to building community resilience to weather extremes. Most of this knowledge is passed on orally and is in danger of being lost due to generational changes, leading communities to seek to preserve the knowledge in other ways. This paper provides guidance on the successful collection and documentation of weather and climate TK in the Pacific by considering four key components: the legal and national context, in-country partnerships, the role of community, and national and community protocols. At the regional level legislation focuses on the protection of culture/TK and intellectual property, which are linked to national policies and laws. Within the national context consideration of the governance structure is critical, including obtaining approvals to conduct the studies. The next consideration is developing partnerships to establish and implement the projects, including working with appropriate ministries, media, donor organizations, and community groups. Community involvement in all aspects of the projects is critical, built on trust between partners and ensuring outputs are aligned with community needs. Following community protocols and procedures allows for effective sharing of TK. We document common protocols that were piloted and tested across four Pacific Island nations, illustrating similarities and differences between cultural groups, including recognizing cultural sensitivities and ensuring custodian rights are protected.

Growing interest in traditional knowledge (TK), particularly in relation to the prediction of weather or climate extremes, raises issues concerning the appropriate storage and management of the information collected. The Traditional Knowledge Database (TK Database) for the storage and use of TK associated with weather and climate prediction in the Pacific was designed with the following principles in mind: (1) preservation of the knowledge, maintaining cultural context wherever possible; (2) respect for intellectual property and cultural sensitivities around data sharing and use; (3) appropriate system design, accounting for ongoing costs of system maintenance and often intermittent Internet access; and (4) moving beyond data preservation to ensure continued use and growth of the TK. The TK Database was successfully deployed to four countries in the south Pacific and is regularly used by their national meteorological services, and partner organizations, both to preserve TK related to weather and climate and as a tool to assist in monitoring the TK indicators. As the first database of its kind, the TK Database fills a critical gap in the appropriate storage and application of TK and provides an important foundation for future developments.

Drought is known as a “creeping disaster” because drought impacts are usually noticed months or years after a drought begins. In the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), there is almost no ability to tell when a drought will begin or end, especially for droughts other than meteorological droughts. Monitoring, forecasting and managing drought in the PICTs is complex due to the variety of different ways droughts occur, and the diverse direct and indirect causes and consequences of drought, across the PICT region. For example, the impacts of drought across the PICTs vary significantly depending on (i) the type of drought (e.g. meteorological drought or agricultural drought); (ii) the location (e.g. high islands versus atolls); (iii) socioeconomic conditions in the location affected by drought; and (iv) cultural attitudes towards the causes of drought (e.g. a punishment from God versus a natural process that is potentially predictable and something that can be managed). This paper summarises what is known and unknown about drought impacts in the PICTs and provides recommendations to guide future research and investment towards minimising the negative impacts of droughts when they inevitably occur in the PICTs.

Traditional calendars document seasonal cycles and the communities' relationships to their biophysical environment and are often used by communities, particularly subsistence farmers, to synchronise their livelihood activities with the timing of ecological processes. As the timing of these ecological processes is not always consistent from year to year, the use of traditional seasonal calendars can help communities cope with climate variability, particularly when biophysical phenomena become less predictable in relation to the Gregorian calendar, as has been observed in relation to climate change. Although the structure and content of seasonal calendars varies across the Pacific, for many indigenous communities, knowledge of seasonal calendars can increase their capacity to cope with climate variability and change. To increase the effectiveness of their products and enhance their relevance to and uptake by the community, several Pacific meteorological services are now using traditional seasonal calendars in their climate communication and education, including in forecasts and warnings. The use of a participatory approach resulted in strong relationships and improved dialogues. Local communities appreciated assistance in enabling their knowledge to become available to future generations and its inclusion in meteorological service products makes these products more accessible and relevant to community members.

National meteorological services (NMSs) are mandated to provide relevant and timely meteorological information to communities, including forecasts and warnings of conditions that are likely to endanger life, property, or the environment. However, in rural or remote areas, particularly in developing countries, traditional weather forecasting may be preferred over contemporary methods. Across the Pacific, NMSs are working with traditional knowledge (TK) experts to build community resilience to extreme events. Using five Pacific countries as examples, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu, we demonstrate how a participatory approach can be used to preserve and promote the continued use of TK of weather and climate and illustrate the entire process for collecting and incorporating this knowledge into NMSs products and services. Critical components we identified included: understanding legal and governance requirements; developing sustainable partnerships; guidelines and processes for collection and documentation of TK; secure and respectful storage of TK; developing monitoring networks; and improving weather and climate communication using TK. The Pacific TK projects were indigenous run, built on in-country partnerships between the NMSs and other organizations and government departments, and considered global, regional, and national legal and policy constraints around the collection of TK and protection of intellectual property. Community members participated in setting the project goals and in determining how the TK was collected, stored, and used. This approach allowed the NMSs to create products and communications that were tailored to meet community needs, while also benefiting wider audiences through their use in the media and the education sector.