"Science of the Pacific Island Peoples is a series of four volumes which contains a unique collection of traditional scientific and technical knowledge from the Pacific Islands. Traditional knowledge, based on accumulated experience or continuous usage, is usually passed from one generation to the next by work of mouth and demonstration. Having had little attention from the media, education ministries, or development agencies, traditional knowledge is in danger of being forgotten. These books attempt to record some aspects of traditional knowledge before they are lost. This, the fourth volume, on Education, Language, Patterns, and Policy contains chapters on allegory, Australia, tourism, the 21st century, Fijian cosmology, Tongan symmetries, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, communication and information, the Crown Research Institutes of Aotearoa/New Zealand, Polynesian thought, Maori knowledge, developmental activities in Western Samoa, Fijian mats, Micronesian development, and Vanuatu games. The other volumes in the series are Ocean and Coastal Studies (volume 1); Land Use and Agriculture (volume 2); and Fauna, Flora, Food & Medicine (volume 3)."--Back cover.

This book, by the Institute of Pacific Studies, looks at agriculture and land use in different areas of the South Pacific such as: yam cultivation in Tonga, the taro agrosystem in Fiji, the impact of mining in PNG, taro islets in Chuuk, refuges in Hawaii, the Polynesian forest, yam cultivation in the Solomon Islands, and general agroforestry.

"A majority of Pacific Islanders rely on subsistence farming and fishing for survival. These sectors are also major foreign currency earners in a number of countries. In cultural terms, the very existence of Pacific peoples is inseparable from the land. Although the risks to the physical survival of many Pacific Islands as a result of sea-level rise have been widely publicised, it is agriculture and marine and terrestial ecosystems that are likely to be affected greatest in the next century. Adverse effects on these systems will probadly render many areas uninhabitable long before they are totally inundated, if they ever are. This small volume aims to increase grass-roots awareness, to help Pacific populations cope with changes and make the necessary sacrifices to counter negative impacts of climate change."--Back cover

Academic survey of the Pacific Islands. Includes maps, photographs, tables, diagrams, atlas, and detailed index.

An encyclopaedia of information on major aspects of Pacific life, including the physical environment, peoples, history, politics, economy, society and culture. The CD-ROM contains hyperlinks between section titles and sections, a library of all the maps in the encyclopaedia, and a photo library.