25 Jul 2013

Information sharing crucial to helping Pacific communities

1:26 pm on 25 July 2013

A NGO worker in the Pacific says sharing information is the most helpful way to empower communities to be prepared for disasters and climate change risks.

Marita Manley, on a project with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, says the Climate Change Portal, an online regional information hub is putting experts in touch with communities to solve issues as simple as dealing with larger outbreaks of seaweed.

She says much of the climate change science is complex and the project helps to translate jargon and acronyms to people that might not understand.

"Staff can really help act as knowledge brokers and try and find those case studies which would otherwise be languishing in reports or people's brains. They do a very good role of chasing down people so if you give them a tip as to who has the knowledge they will hunt you down until you've shared that more widely with the group."

Marita Manley