The first stakeholder workshop took place in New Caledonia in October 2022. Scientists and stakeholders from New Caledonia and Fiji worked actively on a common vision and sustainable and effective actions to collectively fight against the impacts of climate change on the ocean and livelihoods, in other words on ‘sustainability pathways’.
Actors concerned with marine heat waves, coastal erosion, seal level rise, ocean acidification and deoxygenation where invited based on their interest, viewpoints and action capacity.
Regional organizations, research institutes, universities, customary representatives, governments, provinces, municipalities, association of mayors, local structures and associations, all worked for three full days to co-construct an initial socio-environmental diagnosis, reflecting the shared priorities and concerns and laying the foundations for concrete research, monitoring and adaptation actions.
The official opening took place at the Tjibaou Kanak cultural center with a welcoming custom. The PACPATH leadership team and then the student ambassadors had the opportunity to speak and welcome the guests and outline the outcomes we expected for the week. Stakeholders were asked to participate in an icebreaker activity, « Make the Grade, » where everyone was able to take on a role that was not their own. This made it easier to understand the different situations that other stakeholders might face.
The stakeholders started the structured co-design at the Pacific Community in a fully participatory model. They first identified the priority attributes, values and resources (what they valued) and how climate change threaten those— and pointed ou the concern about habitability and food security in relation to the aforementioned oceanic processes.
Ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation impact the coral-seagrass mangrove reef which in turn threatens fish availability (food security) and wave protection (erosion zone and habitability). Sea level rise, combined with other effects (waves generated by distant storms, local cyclones, coastal development) exacerbates coastal erosion and threatens habitability. From those, stakeholders co-constructed the draft socioenvironmental maps of New Caledonia and Fiji, pointing out areas of interest and areas where sustainability appeared to be threatened.
A concluding session allowed further inputs from private companies working on coastal management aspects. The workshop was followed by a writing retreat in the Northern Province to discuss the project perpectives based on the workshop results and appreciate local issues, with a mangrove replanting site to combat coastal erosion in Touho (Koe tribe and Hô-üt association), as well as a coastal erosion site that led to the relocation (Tiouandé tribe).
