The Institute of Applied Sciences (IAS) Pacific Islands Marine Bioinvasions Alert Network (PacMAN) Project launched its support tool on Wednesday, 20 November, 2024 at the USP Lower Campus, Suva. The launch also marked the end of the 3-year project UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Ocean Biodiversity Information Systems (OBIS), initiative based in Oostende, Belgium. The initiative was co-funded by the Flanders Government (Belgium) through the Flanders-UNESCO Science Trust Fund (USD865,000) and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation (USD80,000)
Marine invasive species are a threat to biodiversity ecosystems and the livelihoods of small island development states like Fiji. They can disrupt fragile marine environments, put native species at risk, and affect marine ecosystem services that so many coastal communities depend on. The PacMAN Project’s major objectives were to monitor and identify marine biological invasive alien species, to establish an invasive species monitoring plan, and to build a High-risk Desktop Decision Support Tool for managing marine alien invasive species. The project included a 28-month sampling period and research work at the Suva Harbor in collaboration with the Fiji Ports Corporation Limited and the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji. While all processing and DNA extractions were conducted at USP, further downfield DNA analyses were performed in collaboration with the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji at their post-entry Quarantine Station Diagnostic Laboratory in Koronivia-Nausori with its Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) facility where DNA metabarcoding was used to confirm the existence of marine invasive species.
While welcoming the guests, Professor Sushil Kumar, Director of Research Office, USP stated that the project demonstrated successful collaborations at national and regional levels between regional agencies; “It also showcased USP’s capacity in providing sound policy advice from grounded innovative development and research projects. We sincerely hope that the tools and the manuals delivered today will be of great use to Fijian authorities as we hope it will be for regional countries of the Pacific,” he said.
UNESCO-IOC Executive Secretary Vidar Helgsen through a video speech highlighted the significant PACMAN Project outcomes which were:
“The project has already identified several high-risk marine invasive species through eDNA analyses, highlighting how effective this method is in early detection and monitoring. As we hand over the reins of PacMAN to Fiji’s government and local institutions, I encourage everyone to continue building on what we have achieved together. The monitoring plan, trained personnel and decision support tool are strong foundations for Fiji’s marine biosecurity efforts moving forward,” said Mr Helgsen
Dr. Saara Suominen of UNESCO-IOC’s Ocean Biodiversity System Scientific Officer who was here to represent UNESCO-IOC, explained that the PacMAN decision support portal https://portal.pacman.obis.org/ hosts information on PacMAN sampling campaigns, as well as risk analyses and detection alerts for the PacMAN monitoring areas which should assist local managers to monitor and identify new threats locally.
Mr Krishneel Nand, Principal Environment Officer, Fiji Government’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Fiji delivered the key note and said that the PacMAN Project objectives aligned with the National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan for Fiji. “Various important stakeholders were consulted for the PacMAN project, such as the Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of Environment. A national target aligned to the Global Diversity Framework is to reduce the introduction of invasive species by 50% and to minimize their impact. The Fiji Government acknowledges the efforts of all project partners as the project achievements are aligned to both Fiji and the Global Biodiversity targets,” he added.
USP-IAS Acting Director, Dr Isoa Korovulavula thanked the project fund donors, partners and stakeholders for their efforts. He also acknowledged IAS Senior Scientist and Project PacMAN Project Manager Joape Ginigini and his team for their determination in ensuring that the project was successfully completed. Dr Isoa said,” This project has enabled the successful upskilling of IAS staff technical and project management capabilities whilst contributing to the regional biodiversity action plan targets,” he said.
Other related resources: https://obis.org/2024/11/21/pacman-conclusion-news/
