Endangered and invasive species: Pacific Island legal responses to complex environmental challenges

Safeguarding endangered flora and fauna, and protecting environments from alien invasive species, are contemporary anthropogenic challenges. Although human-induced animal extinctions are known in history, the scale of the present challenge is unprecedented. The prediction that we face a sixth mass extinction, the first caused by humans, is both alarming and devastating. Similarly, introductions of alien species, with catastrophic consequences, can be seen in the past, but to a much lesser extent than now. Loss of endemic species and the introduction of invasives can have particularly damaging impacts and effects in small island contexts, such as those found in the Pacific, where heavy reliance is placed on natural resources for food, raw materials, livelihoods and economies. It is therefore timely and topical to explore the extent to which the Pacific SIDS have engaged with these issues and to analyse the legal frameworks in place to address them. This chapter will do both and so contribute to the growing body of literature on Pacific environmental law generally, and wildlife law in particular.