Prime Minister’s closing speech of the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Conservation and Protected Areas

http://www.sprep.org/speeches/prime-ministers-closing-speech-of-the-9th-pacific-islands-conference-on-conservation-and-protected-areas

Prime Minister's closing speech of the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on
Conservation and Protected Areas
Published on 07 December 2013

For too long, our people have taken their beautiful surroundings and
abundant natural resources for granted. For too long, we have seen
conservation as someone else's responsibility. Paradoxically, we use the
vast ocean around us as both a food source and a refuse dump. We take
its abundance of seafood and give back sewage and garbage. None of us
would dump rubbish in our own backyards yet think nothing of dumping it
in the ocean. In my naval career, I've been staggered and angered by the
sheer volumeof floating plastic bags, plastic bottles and other
cast-offs that I've seen in the water sometimes many kilometres
offshore. Someone put them there, sometimes a Pacific Islander with a
big smile. Something had to give as time went by and it has. Our ocean,
its shoreline and reefs have come under such intense human pressure that
whole ecosystems are under threat. It has to stop. Our arable land and
fresh water streams and rivers are being polluted and their
biodiversity, at times, affected by invasive species. I heartily agree
with His Excellency our President when he said at the opening session of
this gathering that we need to inculcate a new culture of personal
responsibility on the part of every Pacific Islander to end this assault
on our living space. I also endorse his call for the global community to
finally face up to its responsibility to tackle the issue of climate change.

Prime Minister’s closing speech of the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Conservation and Protected Areas