16 April 2025, Auckland New Zealand - Today at the Oceania Seabirds 2025 Symposium, the new Pacific Seabirds Survey and Monitoring Manual and the Pacific Seabird Colony Database were launched. These new resources will assist greatly to better inform the management and protection of seabirds in the region.
These new seabird resources have been produced by the Pacific BioScapes Programme, which is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
There are 11 species of globally threatened seabirds which breed in the Pacific: the Beck’s Petrel, Fiji Petrel, Heinroth’s Shearwater, Polynesian Storm-petrel, Phoenix Petrel, Henderson Petrel, Fairy Tern, Gould’s Petrel, Vanuatu Petrel, New Caledonian Petrel and Collared Petrel.
The goal of the Pacific Seabirds Survey and Monitoring Manual is to encourage and support seabird conservation and research across the region, particularly in areas where this work is just starting out. It covers all the proven methods and survey types that are currently in use across the region and provides the tools required to run successful seabird survey and monitoring programmes.
Mr John Lamaris from PNG is currently a researcher at Monash University. He was at the symposium to present a session titled ‘Review of cultural and traditional knowledge of seabirds in Oceania: Insights from Melanesia’ and was excited to get his hands on a hard copy of the manual.
"This manual would be very useful to me as I am preparing for my work, especially searching for the Beck’s Petrel’s nesting grounds which are unknown. It will be an essential tool for me out in the field".
"I spent my childhood on the islands and my people relied on birds to know where to fish. People cannot just wait out in the ocean all day, dropping their lines and just waiting. They could sit on the beach and when there were seabirds, they could pull out their canoe and go to catch something!".
"Seabirds also play a critical function in the ecosystem and learning about the role of seabird guano in the Symposium has been very important. Because these seabird nutrients help the coral grow, then from that coral comes the fish. There is this connectivity. Once people understand this, there could be a shift in mindsets."
To learn how projects like John’s can be planned, real world case studies are presented in the manual – written by experts currently working in the field. By utilising the in-depth knowledge, experience and expertise of people who have worked successfully on a species, group of species or an ecosystem, readers can transfer these tried and tested methods to projects starting out elsewhere in Oceania.
To download your own copy of the manual, please click this link.
The Pacific Seabird Colony Database is a record of known seabird colonies in the region by species and location. It is the starting point for Pacific Island Countries and Territories and partners to build knowledge of seabirds of the Pacific, their distribution and especially their population trends over time.
SPREP encourages countries, partners, researchers and seabird enthusiasts to contribute existing data as well as plan resurveys of key colonies where information can be over 10 years old. This data is very important for Pacific Island Countries and Territories to assist reporting on progress in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), for example on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).
Mr Chris Gaskin from the Northern NZ Seabird Trust is at Oceania Seabirds 2025 and he highlighted some important considerations regarding the new database.
"It is important to remember that even if a species’ status is not threatened on a global scale, it may be highly threatened on a national scale in individual countries".
"Despite being so important for the Oceania region, many seabird populations are in decline, in some cases perilously so. This is because of a wide range of threats including introduced predators such as cats and rats, urbanisation, pollution, infrastructure development, fisheries bycatch, invasive plants and the effects of climate change".
The overall purpose of the database is to provide a shared resource for both managers and scientists. Managers can use the data to enable reporting on biodiversity as part of national reporting obligations. It can also be used to prioritise monitoring needs and to support the development of national seabird plans. Scientists and researchers are encouraged to submit data to the database and to consider supporting Pacific countries with technical assistance in monitoring of seabirds.
The database can be accessed at:
https://pacific-seabirds.sprep.org/
Topics related to the monitoring of seabirds continues to be explored at the Oceania Seabirds 2025 Symposium which is currently bringing together over 100 stakeholders and partners working towards seabird conservation at the University of Auckland, City Campus in New Zealand from 14 – 17 April 2025.
The primary source of funding for Ocean Seabirds 2025 is the Pacific BioScapes Programme which is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). It includes 30 focused activities taking place across a diversity of ecosystems in 11 Pacific Island countries that are addressing critical issues concerning coastal and marine biodiversity, and ecosystem-based responses to climate change adaptation.
Other supporters of this symposium who have contributed funding, expertise, staff, and are supporting our workshops and field trips including SPC, World Seabird Union, Wildlife Management International Limited, the Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust, NZ Department of Conservation, Australasian Seabird Group, Auckland Council, Dive Tutukaka and the University of Auckland.
For more information, please visit the conference website at: https://oceaniaseabirds2025.com/