Posted on October, 18 2016

Reviving Melanesia’s Ocean Economy: The Case for Action has revealed that the ocean is a much larger part of Melanesia’s* economy and future prosperity than previously understood.

The report maps the contribution of the ocean to the region in new ways and finds that the overall value of the ocean and coastlines in Melanesia is at least US$548 billion. The report describes the ocean’s major role in food production, livelihoods and economic activity, and shows that the annual economic output of the ocean in Melanesia is at least US$5.4 billion, making the ‘ocean economy’ larger than most of the region’s national economies.

If the ocean in Melanesia were its own economy, the new analysis finds that it would be the third largest in the region, generating about as much annual economic output as Fiji and Solomon Islands combined. The report also describes the mounting pressures on the region’s ocean assets from resource exploitation and climate change, and the serious consequences of degradation, including challenges in providing sufficient food and livelihoods for rapidly-growing populations.