The effect of loss of land due to the sea level rise in the Pacific

04/07/08: I am original from Papua New Guinea but I now live in Samoa, South Pacific.

The debates so far on climate change are centered around weather and how it is affecting plants and animals and the environment. These are very important issues and they ought to be brought to this forum.

In the Pacific the issue that is not so obvious is the effect of loss of land due to the sea level rise. Land is very important to and for humanity without which humanity, or for that matter, all other living things cannot conduct the business of sustaining their lives.

In the Pacific land is not a commodity that one buys and sells or leases for money. Not only Land is for sustaining life but it is associated with spirituality of the people. Land is the people's life and soul. A person without land or land connection is soulless. Moreover there is also loss of cultural heritage.

Now land loss is happening through sea level rise. For example the case of Cartright or Cartret Island in Papua New Guinea where the people are being re-settled in Bougainville. There are other low lying attols such as Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati and others in this category.

Land loss has psychological and sociaological dilemma and is devastating to the affected people. It has adverse effect on self-esteem and a lack of motivation and drive to survive.

Best regards. Mali.

07/07/08: As regards to loss of land, I have made this preliminary observation from belief systems of the Pacific Islands. As you know the people of the Pacific are closely associated with land.

In the traditional practice, when one is born, one's placenta is buried on land at which a tree (usually a coconut tree or rosewood tree) was planted.

As the baby grew up so too that tree. Once the baby was old enough she/he was told to look after the tree. The land on which both the tree and the human being became their common reference both physically, sociologically and spiritually,

Physically the tree when matured it provided food in the case of coconut tree. You know coconut tree provides more things such as: broom, shelter, timber for house, fibre for matresses, oil, medicine, ropes and string, fishing line, posts, but to name some and as well as food.

As both the human being and the tree grew up, they both became interdependent. The human being depended on the coconut tree to provide food direct contribution and the coconut tree depended on the human being to keep it safe from fire.

The entity (the site, coconut and human life) became social reference for this member of the community a place in it to particiate. People in the community say, "This is, for example Mali's tree", which means Mali is a full member of the community in which he has every right to participate in the social, cultural, political and economic life of the community.

In the case of the rosewood tree, it signalled the periodic seaonal changes between winter and spring. The second function was when it was big enough it would be felled and made into a canoe. Both functions signalling seasonal changes and transpotation i.e. are but symbols of communication.

Land is both life bearing and life giving and parts of it was declared sacred for the places of abode of the dead, on whose guidance for the living to conduct life. Once land is removed or destroyed neither what had been briefly described above nor the sacred abode of the dead exist.

The above is a general observation. What could be considered as a possible project is to conduct impact of re-settlement of the Carteret Islanders or similar situations elsewhere. How and what do they feel of loss of land?

I have viewed interviews conducted by TV Samoa screened some two weeks ago on a number of people in Tokelau on the same topic.

Some of them said they will look to their aiga or relatives in Samoa for re-settlement. They still, however, feel the loss of land with "psychological pain". How do we measure such pain is yet another question?

What of the the other Tokelauans who have no aiga in Samoa? How and what do they feel when they are dispossed of land by sea level rise?

Once again thank you. Best regards. Mali.