Precarious Paradise in the Pacific

Forest and Bird, Issue 310, 1 November 2003, Page 10

Precarious Paradise in the Pacific

—ANNE RIMMER

isitors to Aitutaki, in the Cook Islands, are greeted with \ | ‘Welcome to Paradise’. The greeting is ironic, for, while burgeoning tourism offers the 1900 inhabitants muchneeded income, it could also destroy their fragile world. The lush, volcanic island of Aitutaki sits in a magnificent lagoon fringed with 45 kilometres of coral reef and 21 uninhabited sand islands (motu). The red-tailed tropic bird (tavake), whose long tail feathers were prized for chiefs’ head-dresses, nests under scrubby bushes on low-lying Maina Island. Lagoon cruises allow visitors to view the birds at close range but, if tourist numbers increase, will the birds abandon this rare nesting site? Until recently, most passengers on the 45-minute flight from Rarotonga were day-trippers, but tourists now stay longer. Luxury accommodation has increased and a new road, bulldozed through the jungle, opens up virgin coastline for development. Though giant sea turtles are now protected, the islanders say the animals no longer come ashore to lay their eggs on the motu. Only a few giant clams, Tridacna maxima (pa ua), remain in the lagoon. The edible clams were protected in 1989 after their numbers were devastated by pollution. [In the 1980s, when Aitutaki exported bananas to NZ, the fruit was dipped into a drum of paraquat before shipping. The used insecticide was simply tipped into the lagoon, killing, among other things, giant clams, sea grapes (an edible seaweed), and coral. |

Some coral is regenerating, baby clams have reappeared, and small fish abound. Yet a Tongan marine biologist thinks Aitutaki’s lagoon ‘looks dead’ from the air, and a local tour guide feels the coral is going downhill. There is some good news. Formerly, banana palms in flower were sprayed with insecticide, a practice which poisoned a nectar-feeding lorikeet, the "Blue Nun; or pur_mo’o. Since spraying ceased, the little birds have become common again. Some of the differences between a pristine tropical environment and one degraded by pollution may not be evident to most tourists. But they certainly notice if the lagoon smells of sewage, as it does after heavy rain. Rubbish disposal is also a problem on a small island. With no recycling, glass and tins must be buried, while plastic can end up as litter or floating in the lagoon. Other Pacific Islands such as Tonga and Fiji already have major litter problems. Can remote, beautiful Aitutaki benefit from tourism, but avoid the pitfalls?

More about Aitutaki on http://www.cook-islands.com