Pacific Rim research projects

Our environmental science helps contribute to sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Tongan deepwater demersal line fishery is a valuable source of income, livelihood, and social well-being for the people of Tonga. The fishery has a history of boom-and-bust cycles with fluctuating catches and poor economic returns.
Observations of a Pacific atoll mangrove forest by a NIWA-led research team suggests mangrove systems on oceanic atolls may lose the race to keep pace with sea-level rise.
The three-year PARTneR–2 project aims to help countries in the Pacific become more resilient to the impacts of climate-related hazards.
CliDEsc is a web-based content management system and product generator library developed by NIWA in consultation with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in the Pacific region, and with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
NIWA is in its third year of a 5-year phased project on the deepwater line fishery in Tonga funded by the NZ Aid Programme’s Partnership for International Development Fund. The aim of the project is to deliver the improved governance, management, and economic and biological sustainability of the fishery focusing on deepwater snapper and bluenose in the Tonga EEZ.
This collaborative NZaid project worked with coastal Fijian villagers at Votua on the Coral Coast of Viti Levu to develop pragmatic water supply and waste treatment solutions to protect public health and reduce contamination of coastal waters.
The WASH Koro project Mobilising community-led water supply, sanitation and hygiene improvements in Fijian villages is a collaborative participatory project that aims to provide self-help tools to mobilise communities to recognise and address their own water supply, sanitation and health/hygiene needs.
Understanding how hazards impact people and the environment provides the foundation for informed decision making for a resilient Pacific
NIWA worked with the community on the island of Totoya, in the Yasayasa Moala Island group in south-east Fiji to assess their energy security and energy related socio-economic opportunities.