By CLIMATE ADAPTATION UNDP
Fishing and planting are our communities’ livelihoods. In this, weather is everything. If the weather takes a turn for the worse while I am at sea, it can be a safety issue. If I am unable to catch enough fish to feed my family and provide for my community, then how can we survive? With the remoteness of our island, we must be resilient. We must adapt for our existence, and if technology is the pathway then let’s learn how to use it.
For centuries, Cook Islands communities have used traditional knowledge and skills, passed down through generations, to read their environment and provide food for their families. Nature has provided.
But farmers, fishers, and practitioners of traditional livelihoods have witnessed changes over the past decades. Typical seasons for the spawning of fish have shifted. Rainfall, wave, and wind patterns have become less predictable. The islands are seeing coral bleaching and the disappearance of some native fish and shellfish delicacies. Storm surges and sea-water intrusion are increasingly impacting crops.
While these trends are being observed first-hand by communities, scientific data is key to fully understanding the changes.
The Government of the Cook Islands is focused on filling the gaps and now, with the installation of automatic weather stations and a new online app, the Cook Islands Meteorological Service (Met Service) is modernising the capture, analysis, and distribution of climate information – a key piece of the puzzle in building a more climate-smart future.
LEAPS & BOUNDS
What was once a manual process is now a seamless, automatic one, achieved through the collaboration of Met Service; the telecommunication’s company Cook Islands Bluesky; New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA); Fiji’s Meteorological Service; and the Pa Enua (outer island) governments, with the support of the UN Development Programme and Adaptation Fund.
Nine automatic weather stations have been installed and upgraded on the islands of Atiu, Mangaia, Mauke, Mitiaro, Rarotonga, Manihiki, Rakahanga, Penrhyn, and Pukapuka and are capturing and transmitting data on atmospheric temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, rainfall, and atmospheric pressure. Anyone with an Internet connection can now access live information and forecasts.
Supporting the transition to the next generation of technology are young staff at Met Service (eight of the department’s eleven staff are under 30). No strangers to using technology in every aspect of their lives, they are proudly leading the way in embracing technology and providing the community with easier access to forecasts.
We’re excited to be moving with modern technology to improve the availability of climate information to our communities. People can now access information through an app on their smart phones. This is a big step in the right direction for our remote and vulnerable islands. It’s really key to enabling them to become more ‘climate-smart’ and therefore more resilient to changes. – Arona Ngari, Director of Cook Islands Meteorological Service
TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD EFFECTIVE CLIMATE WARNING SYSTEMS
The goal of the Strengthening the Resilience of the Cook Islands to Climate Change project, running since 2012, has been to boost the long-term capacity of the Cook Islands to better manage current and future climate change-driven pressures. The vision of providing real-time climate information to communities was a key component of the project.
That vision is on its way to being realised. With real-time data via the online app, fishers and farmers will be able to make more informed decisions. Farmers will be able to plan when to plant, to protect their crops from weather damage, and to make better irrigation decisions. Fishers will be better able to judge conditions for going to sea.
Meanwhile, with enhanced, up-to-date data on incoming weather, decision-makers will be able to make better-informed decisions. For example, with improved data and forecasts for rainfall and temperature, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Ministry of Agriculture will be better equipped to plan water storage requirements.
The Ministry of Health will be enabled to provide better advice on vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue.
More reliable information will also support the Cook Islands Port Authority and Cook Islands Airports in the landing of aircrafts and guidance of large sea vessels, as well as transportation to the remote outer islands, vital to delivering essentials including medication, project materials, food, fuel, and fresh water.
The access to enhanced data also contributes to more effective disaster early warning, and climate-resilient adaptation on the remote islands.
The hardware is crucial, but so is increasing awareness and building local capacity for how best to use the newly available data. A ‘train-the-trainer’ approach was therefore taken at the time of installation, with continuous follow up from the islands to Met Service staff.
Youth were also targeted, via the project’s partnership between Met Service and Te Ipukarea Society to conduct awareness workshops in Pa Enua schools. Over 60 students were trained using a learning-by-doing approach, allowing the students to be hands-on in understanding more about their microclimate, measuring variables on their own and being able to interpret their collected data for signs of upcoming rain and even cyclones.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: A VISION TO BE MORE CLIMATE-RESILIENT
Comprehensive data is now available online for Rarotonga island. The team continues to work on linking data from the rest of the Pa Enua automatic weather stations to their database, to be uploaded to the website and app in the coming months.
With more accurate climate information, Cook Islands communities are better prepared than ever for the future.
Truly the Pacific island state is 'Akamatutu’anga i te iti tangata no te tuatau manakokore ia e te taui’anga reva', strengthening the resilience of their islands and communities to climate change.
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Between 2012 and 2018, the Strengthening the Resilience of the Cook Islands to Climate Change Programme (SRIC-CC), completed 120 projects with more than 200 individuals on community-based resilience initiatives across the 11 Pa Enua (outer islands) of the Cook Islands. The programme –funded with the support of the Adaptation Fund –was implemented by Climate Change Cook Islands, a division within the Office of the Prime Minister and supported by UNDP in Samoa, Cook Islands, Tokelau & Niue.
While the SRIC-CC project has now concluded, the new Adaptation Fund-supported ‘Pa Enua Action for Resilient Livelihoods’ (PEARL) project has launched in partnership with RESPAC-UNDP (Disaster Resilience for Pacific Small Island Developing States-UNDP), Met Service, the Office of the Prime Minister’s Divisions of Emergency Management Cook Islands and Climate Change Cook Islands, and the National Implementing Agency Development Co-ordination Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management. Automatic weather stations will be installed on the remaining islands of Palmerston and Nassau. With the involvement and partnership of government agencies, the private sector and the community, the sustainability of the project is provided for.
- The SRIC-CC project supported equipment procurement for ten automatic weather stations and installation for four stations.