The Executive Committee of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (CEPAC), which covers Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, met in Auckland last week.

In a statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting the Bishops said, "the place of the sea in the lives of the peoples we serve was a central focus of our meeting."

The statement said:

"Our common ocean is teeming with life and goodness. For many of our peoples the sea is their treasured source of nutrition, sustenance and livelihood.

"In solidarity with them, Psalm 107 resonates in our hearts: 'those that do business in the great waters, they behold the world of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.'

"We are acutely aware of the impact of climate change on island nations and some of our number have been visiting communities and recording the destruction of shorelines affecting them.

"On a happier note we are heartened to learn of the systematic and coordinated opposition to seabed mining which turns the ocean floor into a stage of exploitative destruction of ocean habitats.

"Our interest in the'Blue Economy' is to uphold a model of development that respects the fundamental importance of sustainability that looks way beyond any perceived short term economic windfall.

"Members of Parliament and local Governors and other civic authorities have a particular duty to promote long term economic and social development and to be vigilant in guarding against any attempts by international businesses to exploit our common resource.

"We applaud government, community and private initiatives to develop water ecotourism and sustainable sea fishing.

"We are not 'anti-development'. We look to the common good and thus advocate for an integrated approach to development where local customary practices are respected and communities are assisted to grow employment opportunities."

Read the bishops' statement

Source

• NZCBC
• Image: deepseaminingoutofourdepth.org

In his Easter message he connected the meaning of Easter and the "destruction of peoples, the environment and the planet."

A locally-based company, Gold Rock Investment Ltd, has invested more than $16 million in a new stone crushing quarry.

"I am deeply concerned how the extraction of stones from the river will affect the environment in the nearby villages of Natadadrave and Delakado," Loy Chong said.

"What impact will it have on the fishes, prawns and other creatures that depend on the river including human beings?"

"What will happen if there is heavy rain and flooding?"

Last year the quarry was said to provide employment for more than 35 people.

Gold Rock Investment Ltd managing director and owner Shun Hui it would employ more workers once fully operational.

He said they had 13 specialists from China, who have set up quarries and stone crushers in China.

Natadradave also happens to be the village that shot into prominence last year with claims about "miracle water" that flowed from a spring in the village.

Loy Chong also expressed concern about other already existing or planned development projects such as bauxite mining in Bua, the logging industry and the possibility of deep sea mining

"All these projects carried out in the name of development must be evaluated and questioned in regard to social and ecological justice," he said.

"How do they develop and protect human beings, creatures and the environment?"

Loy Chong's message, originally published in the Fiji Times, was reproduced in The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale University.

The largest international multireligious project of its kind, the Forum recognises that religions need to be in dialogue with other disciplines (e.g., science, economics, education, public policy) in seeking comprehensive solutions to both global and local environmental problems.

Source

• fijitimes.com.fj
• fijitimes.com.fj
• fore.yale.edu
• Image: fijisun.com.fj

The group have issued a statement saying the negative impacts of the mine greatly outweigh the anticipated benefits.

"Therefore, in solidarity with Alliance of Solwara Warriors, Bismarck Ramu Group, and other concerned organisations, we are compelled to speak out on behalf of the affected silent majority in the rural coastal and island communities," the group said.

"We foresee that the coastal and island people whose daily lives are wholesomely dependent on the marine resources will be seriously deprived if the project goes ahead. In the economic and social realm, the dignity and complete vocation of the human person and the welfare of society as a whole are to be respected and promoted."

The world's first project to mine the seabed for minerals is expected to begin operations in Papua New Guinea in early 2019.

Nautilus Minerals is the Canadian company in charge of the Solwara 1 project, which will see copper and gold deposits mined from the seafloor at a depth of 1,600 metres, 30 kilometres off PNG's New Ireland Province in the Bismarck Sea.

The Caritas group called on the government to immediately ban experimental seabed mining because:

• Nautilus Minerals Ltd has not demonstrated that seafloor resource development is commercially viable and environmentally sustainable
• The already commissioned Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report is not available to the stakeholders concerned.
  Nautilus Minerals Ltd has not provided evidences of successful projects
• The local communities have not consented to the project going ahead
• The many unknowns make it a high risk project

The Annual Caritas PNG Forum 2017 took place in Madang at the end of February

Source

• looppng.com.png
• Courier Post
• abc.net.au
• Image: abc.net.au

Pacific Conference of Churches Treaties Adviser Murray Isimeli says the region cannot afford damage to the environment by testing.

"There is no evidence on what effect testing or mining will have so we would caution against doing anything until there is substantial proof of the effects of disturbing the sea bed," Mr Isimeli said.

His comments came after a regional summit on deep sea mining organised by SOPAC (South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission) in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

He also warned governments and their representatives about liberally using the Bible to support mining after speakers at the Vanuatu summit spoke of underwater minerals as divine blessings.

Source

• Island Business
• Image: AKRockefeller

• Tahiti independence
• West Papua independence
• Freedom Sunday
• Nuclear testing
• Seabed mining
• Solidarity on mining
• Tourism, fishing and forestry
• Facilitating the concerns of members by engaging on the issue with agencies such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the Melanesian spearhead Group.
• Ending HIV-AIDS stigmatisation
• Climate change and resettlement
• Teachers for Chuuk
• Arms trade and nuclear weapons

Source

• Island Business
• Image: Cook Island News