Islands of Hope: Indigenous Resource Management in a Changing Pacific

Abstract

Gonzaga(Zag) Puas holds a bachelor of arts/diploma of education, bachelor of law, master of political science and a doctorate in Micronesian history. Born and raised in Chuuk State on the island of Lukunor, Federated States of Micronesia, and from the Sor clan, he is director of the Micronesian Institute for Research and Development and professor and Micronesian outreach coordinator at the Pacific Islands University, Guam. His ANU doctorate was published in 2021 by ANU Press as Federated States of Micronesia's Engagement with the Outside World: Control, Self-preservation and Continuity. Patrick Rochette is a farmer and fisherman on the Taiarapu Peninsula in Tahiti. He has been a member of the Teahupo`o Rāhui Management Committee for 10 years and active promoter of this form of integrated society-ecosystem management across Tahiti. Marguerite Taiarui was born and raised in Tahiti and has always been passionate about the marine environment. She studied marine sciences in New Zealand and Australia from 2012 to 2016, obtaining a Diploma in Marine Sciences, a BSc in Applied Biological Sciences, and a MSc in Fisheries Biology and Management. Her MSc research made her realise the complexity and importance of small-scale fisheries in French Polynesia and left her committed to the better understanding and management of Tahitian lagoon fisheries. She worked for the Direction of Marine Resources of French Polynesia from 2019 to 2021, helping to put in place restricted fishing areas with local communities' participation. Marguerite is currently completing a PhD on better fisheries management in French Polynesia and in the Pacific.Melody Tay is a marine biologist and performance artist who recently graduated from Yale/NUS College at the National University of Singapore. Melody is interested in how art can be both a witness and an intervention to the present reality of climate change and the human stories that are intertwined in that problem. In her work, she explores wonder and the relationship between the experience of nature and the divine.