A University of Hawaii professor says a return to traditional cultural practices could strengthen Pacific islanders' ability to withstand impacts of global warming and natural hazards.
Dr. Charles Fletcher is the chairman of the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
He says the sad truth is that the first communities to suffer from global warming are typically the ones that are not responsible for it and are least able to manage the problem.
"American Samoa and Hawaii and other island communities in the Pacific can re-embrace their traditions of land management, they can move towards food sovereignty, towards sustainability, and in doing all this, we can strengthen our ability to withstand the impacts of, not only global warming, but impacts from hurricanes, from earthquakes, from tsunami."
Dr. Charles Fletcher.
