Oceania | Must See Destinations

Dream Vacation in Micronesia

December 22, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

What ever happened to your dream vacation on the beach? If the beach is your style, perhaps your dream vacation is Micronesia in the Pacific Islands. Micronesia is a large area that covers a third of the islands in Oceania with a variety of islands to visit. Some of these attractive islands include the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshal Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau.

With over 600 islands in the Federated States of Micronesia, you will find a variety of places to visit. The waters that surround these islands are known to be some of the clearest in the world and said to be a paradise for divers. The Micronesians have an interesting culture, ensuring your vacation to be educational and fun.

The Marshal Islands are known for their marine life. With over 160 species of coral, you are sure to have a wonderful diving experience. These islands are also well known for their coconut and papaya plantations.

If someone in your group isn’t into diving, the Northern Mariana Islands will be the place for you. Not only do these islands have beautiful water, but they have some of the best scenery, too. These 14 islands are made of volcanoes and include a variety of cliffs, bays, caves, and mountains.

Although all of these locations have great diving opportunities, you will probably find the best diving experience to be in Palau. With over 1,500 species of fish and 700 species of coral, you are sure to find this experience exciting. Not only will you see an abundance of fish and coral, but you will see WWII shipwrecks also.

If you’re looking for a beach, or a place to dive into clear blue water, Micronesia is definitely the place for you. With the clear water and wonderful variety of fish and coral, your diving experience will be an experience to remember.

Filed Under: Attractions, Islands, Travel & Tourism Tagged With: Federated States of Micronesia, Oceania, Pacific Island

The pacific islands forum meeting

December 11, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The pacific islands forum meeting was held in Port Vial,Vanuatu. Held in the month of August this meeting invited the top leaders of the pacific. A lot of steadfast arrangements were made for this event by the government of Vanuatu. The country did well to make the event a grand success, considering that it had before this event celebrated its thirtieth independence day.

Topics of discussions revolved around the climate changes in the pacific islands, and its security concerns. Challenges that were being wrestled by the islanders was brought to the spotlight. The Pacific Plan was a new proposal that was discussed extensively.

The Pacific plan is a multipurpose strategy to look into issues faced by the inhabitants of the islands. It offered inventive strategies to overcome challenges by greater regional cooperation frameworks. A number of pioneering start offs was envisioned in the pacific plan. All these initiatives were directed at providing development across all regions of the pacific islands.

Strong growth, good policies, and sustained economic activity drivers were identified. Issue related to poverty and unhygienic living conditions came under the scanner. To improve living standards the forum leaders developed a strategy that combined employment opportunities with emphasis on education.

The main aim of the pacific islands forum has always been to work in unison to support the cause of welfare of the people of the pacific islands. This is done by bringing together the different governments and enabling cooperation and bilateralism.

From the forum members, Australia and New Zealand stand prominently as economically developed countries. This is a good thing for the other countries in the Pacific Islands. Australia and New Zealand are great markets for the island countires to market their goods. Also, Australia and New Zealand have supplied their troops to maintain peacekeeping activities in certain island countries of the Pacific.

India has been a dialogue partner. So is China. A lot of other countries are dialogue partners in the forum as well.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: China, Climate change, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Islands Forum, Pacific Ocean, Pacific Plan, Vanuatu

Health concerns in the pacific islands

December 9, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Health concerns have been raised at the Pacific islands after the WHO (world health organization) issued an alert on the spread of epidemics. Islands have geographical challenges, in that it is predisposed to being epidemically quarantined. Because of its isolated geographical disposition, epidemic diseases might not get out of the geography easily.

Apart from infectious diseases, the WHO also spotted cardiovascular diseases on the rise in the pacific islands. Even obesity was on the rise. Since the islanders have a propensity to indulge in drugs and alcohol due to the tourist influxes, inhabitants now have addiction problems too.

Most diseases prevalent in the pacific islands are lifestyle-induced. Statistics indicate that the Pacific islands have the highest lifestyle-induced diseases. This is an alarming trend, and the WHO is taking steps to resolve this.

Recently the WHO held a workshop to help people realize the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The workshop covered aspects of nutrition, and healthy lifestyle patterns. Intending to promote an increased level of awareness, this workshop was worth its efforts in spreading the message of healthy living.

Top ministers and politicians of the Pacific met in Vanuatu, in August 2010, to discuss this problem. They developed a guideline for applying a successful approach to resolve issues related to diet and lifestyle. Emphasizing the need to restrict minors to alcohol, the guideline will pave the way for a more controlled availability of lifestyle food and beverages.

WHO in coordination with the leaders of the Pacific islands, and other global healthcare consortiums are coming up with ways to tackle the problem. Aiming to block the access of alcohol and narcotics to children is the primary concern of the WHO. Young addicts are becoming common in the pacific islands. Given the influx of foreign nationals in most islands, the situation often times is something that is difficult to control. The health of the people of the Pacific islands need to be salvaged, before it is too late.

Filed Under: Cons Tagged With: Climate change, Health, Japan, Oceania, Pacific Island, Pacific Ocean, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu

SOPAC: PACIFIC ISLANDS APPLIED GEOSCIENCE COMMISSION

December 5, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

The SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC) was established as a part of the regional cooperation plan established by the leader’s forum of the Pacific islands. SOPAC has traversed a lot after it was setup in 1972. Initially it was a part of a UN programme that looked into mineral mining potentials, but now it has acquired far more prominence and stature in various other activities.

From looking into mineral mining potentials in the seabed and on the shore, it is now employed to do a lot of other things like, protection of coasts, and assessing biologically hazardous activities and substances amongst other things.

SOPAC has several acting members including Australia, and New Zealand. The SOPAC is an important agent of change, and development for the countries of the Pacific islands. SOPAC has three main arms that deal in specialized activities. One arm deals with activities related to islands and the sea in general. The other deals with issue related to water, sanitation, and living conditions. The last arm deals with matter relating to handling emergencies and hazards.

SOPAC provides valuable technical knowledge to the governments of the nations in the pacific islands. It effectively dispatches technical knowhow on things like ocean resource utilizations, oceanic policies, coastal improvement programs, strategic partnerships, and a host of other things. All these are enablers of positive economic change for the nations in the pacific islands.

Sanitation programmes of the SOPAC have given governments the focus to better manage their water resources. Due to the lack of natural storage capacities, small islands in the pacific need the use of technology to bail them out. SOPAC provides invaluable advice, and partnership programmes to meet the needs of the people in these areas.
Timely help in situations of emergency and disaster is what SOPAC is known for. It advises member nations on policies related to handling hazardous activities and substances. Policy setting, disaster recovery, and welfare activities is what SOPAC is known for.

Filed Under: Islands Tagged With: Australia, Business and Economy, Economic Development, New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Island, Tonga, Travel and Tourism

Pacific Islands Ethnic Museum

December 3, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Pacific islands are some of the most beautiful islands in the world. Close to 30,000 islands are known to fall in the pacific island list. Pacific islands lie in the Pacific Ocean, which is a vast ocean starting from North America, covering Asia, and finally Australia.

The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum opened on October 15, 2010.With its main aim to educate people about the culture, tradition, and mystery of pacific islands, this museum will houses all relevant artifacts. Considering that certain islands of the pacific ocean had no one visiting it for centuries, until lately, there definitely is a lot of mystery left that is unexplored. This is the area where the museum will delve into to get more historical discoveries.

Some islands have colorful cultural backgrounds. Aspects of such cultures can be brought to the museum. Given the fact that there are close to 30000 islands, one can imagine the kind of cultural, and biological diversity that might exist. And the museum has a lot of potential in documenting those evidences by way of showpiece specimens.

The museums chief had started of the process of putting together a museum in the 1990s iteself. At that time the museums founder travelled and met with the chiefs of the tribes that resided on these islands. By doing this a lot of information was taken, and this paved the way to the opening of an art institute in the micronesian islands in the 1990s. A point to be noted is that the pacific islands are structured into three distinct entities namely, polynesia, melanesia,and off course micronesia.

Apart from showcasing art,the Pacific Islands Ethnic Museum will also offer background information. Visitors will be highly enriched in their knowledge about these islands from the background information. The museum will help people understand how geographically dispersed islanders live their lives. It will offer a glimpse of how human beings in general adapt to living in geographical isolation.

Filed Under: Attractions Tagged With: Arts and Entertainment, Asia, Australia, Japan, Museum, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean

Shanghai World Expo: The Pacific Islands Pavilion

November 28, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

In the month of July 2010, the Shanghai World Expo witnessed a combined effort of the countries of the pacific to set up a stall. The stall was the Pacific Islands stall, and was architected in a blue hue, in accordance with its touristic stature.

The event was half-a-year long. It also was the year of the event that saw the Pacific Islands pavilion welcoming its one-millionth visitor. Truly, given the number of people visiting the stall, it seemed that the Pacific Islands exposition stall generated the maximum interest. After all, people are always intrigued by the sun, sand, sea, and serenity. Given the fact that the world still has to know more about the nations in the Pacific Islands, this was the perfect opportunity to throw some more light on them.

The Pacific Islands exposition stall served as a platform for the constituent nations to tell people about their countries. By doing so it generated a lot of touristic interest. People initially are always concerned about issues related to travel time, terrain, and culture. They are also wary about things related to security of tourists. The exposition stall served the purpose of educating tourists on the capabilities of the nations in handling all these things with ease.

Fourteen nations cooperated with each other to set up the Pacific Islands exposition pavilion. Here, instead of one single stall to represent the Pacific Islands nations, multiple stalls were setup to represent individual nations of the Pacific Islands.

The six months time of the exposition was enough for the nations of the Pacific Islands to tell the world much about their respective countries. In coordination with their foils back home, they generated a lot of prospective and potential customers. Trade, travel, and other activities received a boost. Certain island nations came with their own set of uniqueness and identity. This in itself was a great attraction for the avid traveler. This event successfully promoted the Pacific Islands.

Filed Under: Islands, Travel & Tourism Tagged With: China, Expo 2010, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Shanghai, Shanghai World Expo, Travel and Tourism, World's fair

Problem of Unsafe Water in the Pacific Islands

November 23, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

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Water-borne diseases are on the rise in the Pacific Islands. Countries in the Pacific Islands are now raising concerns of a potential mass-spread of an epidemic. The SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC) is coming forward to deal with this problem.

A lot of people die every year after consuming toxic water. Unsafe water is quite a bad thing to have in the picturesque countries of the Pacific Islands. Children are worst affected. Due to bad sanitation of the houses, children are getting infected faster. Hygienic imbalances are also creating perilous living conditions in the Pacific Islands.

Another contributing factor to this unhealthy condition is the spread of drought. Certain countries are experiencing prolonged periods of drought. Such situations aggravate matters, and make water storage a matter of survival. Water storage creates hygiene issues, in that it also creates a perfect setting for mosquitoes to breed.
SOPAC is now revving up plans to educate the people about safe ways to store water. They are also coming out with programmes to education people on how to make water clean and drinkable. Things like sanitation and general healthy living conditions are also being planned-out.

It seems that the only way out would be to educate people. As the saying goes that prevention is better than cure, education is in a way a preventive measure. Largely plagued by mass-illiteracy, some islands nations will offer challenging propositions to the volunteer organizations and SOPAC.

SOPAC had come out with a Drinking Water Safety Plan to encounter this problem. Successfully implemented in various countries of the Pacific Islands, the same is being envisioned across a lot of other countries.

To better dispense the program, communities living in the cities as well as the villages will be engaged into action. After providing them training, they will be given the tools and methodologies to conduct inspections. Trained people will then go forward and train others. In this way, a multi-level induction of training is achieved.

Filed Under: Cons, Islands Tagged With: Climate change, Drinking water, Environment, Health, Japan, Oceania, Pacific Island, Water

Electricity services will receive a boost in Marshall Islands

November 15, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

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Electricity services will receive a boost in Marshall Islands, thanks to support from the Asian Development Bank, and Japan. The poor people of Marshall Islands will now have prepaid access to electricity which might not have been possible before.

Marshall Islands is a country in Micronesia, which is a part of the Pacific Islands. It is located close to the equator. The government here functions in a parliamentary-presidential combination mode. In the past ten years, the general domestic product of Marshall Islands has grown over a percent. The country has faced severe drops in tourism and other economic activities.

Due to recession, and lack of funds available in Asia, very fewer investments took place in Marshall Islands. There was also a severe drought that affected agriculture and allied activities. It has to be noted that the World Bank commended Marshall Islands as being the most inexpensive hiring and firing employer. But it scored low on winning investments and converting them into long-term contracts.

Now the situation is seeing a change with the a grant of close to two million dollars from the Asian Development Bank to Japan for investing in the Marshall Islands. This fund is from the Poverty Reduction Fund of the Asian Development Bank. Helping poor people in the Marshall Islands get access to uninterrupted electricity is the aim of the fund.

A survey will be conducted to determine the demographics. Households that are below poverty line will be identified. Majuro, the capital of Marshall Islands, will be targeted in the initial phase of the survey, but the survey will move on to other regions as well.

Marshall Energy Company will employ prepaid meters that will enable the people to better manage their electricity utilizations. The power generation unit will have an innovative concept to supply it the fuel. Copra producers will be engaged to produce a combination fuel. The combination fuel will have coconut oil as one component, and diesel as the other.

Filed Under: Islands Tagged With: Asia, Asian Development Bank, Japan, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, World Bank

Pacific Islands Forum Education Ministers’ Meeting

November 11, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

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The Pacific Islands education ministers’ meeting was held in Papua New Guinea, in the month of October 2010. The ministers’ meeting was held to take the education initiatives as enumerated in the Pacific Education Development Framework further by constructive actions.

Important ministers met to discuss educational initiative taken by the individual governments in the Pacific Islands. The meeting raised a lot of applause for Papua New Guinea’s initiative in the education space. The government of Papua New Guinea had offered scholarship to meritorious students. The forum members felt this was a great act to emulate by other countries in the Pacific Islands as well.

Acknowledging the fact that education was now the mainstay of the region, the forum ministers gave education the indispensability status that it should have always had. They felt that the development of the region was sustained of the basis of how much knowledge and skills the citizens of the country had. And this is only possible through sustained education programmes that supported meritocracy and inclusiveness.

The meeting was a perfect setting for the ministers to urge other members to work as a cohesive unit in successfully implementing the education framework. The Pacific Education Development Framework’s main aim is to incubate, and nurture the core values and sensibilities related to education. It aimed to provide children the necessary foundation and support to get access to primary education.

Realizing the fact that children of today are the custodians of the country tomorrow, the ministers lay a blueprint for implementation of the education framework. They felt that the education framework will help the youth participate in the development of their countries, maintain their cultural systems, and live enriching lives.

A plan was introduced to implement the education framework. The plan focused on things like an initial survey to assess the levels of literacy, followed by mapping educational initiative with the needs of the country, and then taking efforts to reach set educational goals, through coordinated action.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Business and Economy, Climate change, Education, New Guinea, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands

Tahiti is More than Macadamias

October 27, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Though Tahiti is widely known and respected for its production of macadamia nuts, it is so much more than that! With French Polynesian industry, and a quaint accent of tiki nonsense, tourists to Tahiti in the Pacific Islands are basked in luscious, tropical gardens, sun-warmed fruits, and crystalline waters. The misty, mysterious peaks of the mountains on Tahiti are reminiscent of all of the landscapes in the Pacific Islands: fabulous. Visitors rarely have complaints, because the land is so perfect, that even if a hotel room is small or a meal is cold, no one has the patience to get angry.

Papeete’s wonderful Mount Orohena is a classic for visitors to the Pacific Islands. Its 2,241 metre peak is sought by many hikers, but rarely flagged, due to the extreme nature of the high altitudes. Other, less adventurous (and more sane) visitors, find themselves content to photograph Mount Orohena from their luxury accommodations in Papeete, rather than trying to touch the clouds. Like the very mountain, the locals are tall and well-built. A visitor gets the sense that these are a people who are relaxed and well-adjusted, yet hard working and complex. Talking to locals is always a treat, whether on hiking trails, or during shopping jaunts.

Large, smooth pools await sweating tourists at each of the wonderful resorts in the Tahitian Pacific Islands. From the famous infinity pool at Manava, to the un-named but excellent pools in other ritzy resorts, there are waters that are warm and inviting during every season of the year. For ocean swimmers, scuba, snorkel, and surfing lessons are available along the coast for very low prices. Although, while taking in so much beauty, you may find yourself unable to focus on a tedious task like learning scuba rules. Take in the surrounding fantasy life, and enjoy your time in the Pacific Islands!

Filed Under: Attractions, General, Islands, Pros Tagged With: French Polynesia, Manava, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Papeete, Tahiti, Trail, Travel and Tourism