biodiversity

He said species are declining in numbers due to fishing and the clearing of bush to plant kava.

He said habitats had to be protected.

He told the Daily Post his country's biodiversity had been managed well through customary practices from generation to generation, but these practices were being lost.

Regenvanu also said participating in the COP15 UN Diversity Conference in Canada was an opportunity to find alternative sources of funding for further biodiversity action.

The declaration outlines the commitments of CBD Parties to 18 actions for integration of biodiversity into the agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism sectors to halt the loss of biodiversity across the world.

It was adopted after months of consultation with CBD Parties, ending with a series of high level roundtable discussions.

For the very first time, these discussions included the participation of Ministers from the four development sectors.

"It is critical that we build on this historic opportunity in terms of biodiversity conservation for the future”.

The paper, published in the international journal Science, said changes in global temperatures were affecting the diversity and distribution of living species worldwide - but not enough is known about how to protect them.

The paper called for research to be done so outcomes for every species affected by climate change could be forecast.

Lincoln University researcher Dr William Godsoe, who was involved in writing the paper, said climate change was already affecting some of New Zealand's beloved native species.

The National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan (NBSAP) two-day workshop was opened by Minister for the Environment Kiriau Turepu at the Pukapuka Hostel on Tuesday.

The project is part of the second generation of Biodiversity Enabling Activities under the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Cook Islands has been a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity since 1993.