Action strategy for protected areas in the South Pacific, prepared during the Third South Pacifique National Parks and Reserves conference, Apia, Western Samoa, 24 June - 3 July 1985

StrategyThe South Pacific is a vast region extending over 29 million sq km, or seven times the area of the Caribbean. Of this, only about 500,000 sq km is land. The island environments present special, often critical, problems for nature conservation. Geographical and ecological isolation Have led to the evolution of unique species and communities of plants and animals, many of which are adapted to only one island or island group, and found nowhere else in the world. There are about 2000 different types of ecosystem throughout the South Pacific, and on some islands 80$ or more of the species are endemic. Limited space means that ecosystems are restricted, with small biological populations and this increases their vulnerability.