We’ve taken a big step in our knowledge of our seabed minerals environment

The Cook Islands government has released its Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Regional Environmental Management Plan (REMP) for seabed minerals. 

This milestone is an important step in managing our marine environment while considering possible future development opportunities for our country. The SEA covers our entire Cook Islands Marae Moana Exclusive Economic Zone. It considers national and international laws and leading best practices.

It brings together science, laws, and community input to help make sure we can make the best possible decisions about our seabed minerals' future. With the other environmental instruments and requirements, it is part of an Ecosystem-Based Management Framework (EBMF). The parts of an EBMF work together, and one way to think of the SEA is a bit like how the front wheel of a bicycle works. 

“The SEA was a major effort starting with the vision of our then - SBM Commissioner Alex Herman; it took almost three and a half years,” said Knowledge Management Director John Parianos. “Peer review involved over 20 different organisations and the public from the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Community, and beyond. A big meitaki ma’ata to everyone who has been involved; there’s no doubt that your engaged and critical review has led to a much better outcome.” 

The SEA includes four major sub-programme studies: 

1.   Marine Spatial Assessment – found that the Cook Islands seabed can be classified into different parts that all need to be protected and conserved. 

2.  Effects Assessment – concluded that a single minerals extraction operation would likely have impacts that need to be studied further but are likely to have at most moderate significance. 

3.  Cumulative Impact Assessment – found that if there were multiple operations permitted one day, their impacts would still be moderate, even when the impacts from other marine users are included (i.e., fishing, shipping, and climate change). 

4. Regional Environmental Management Plan (REMP) – found that public endorsement and support of the above studies is high, and there is keen interest from the community to be involved in the design and implementation of management measures.

A simplified version of our EBMF and how the SEA fits in

The REMP was a comprehensive process of public engagement, explanation of the previous programmes and collection of the diverse opinions and value sets that make up our community. This was done through three stages: 

1.    Public surveys to capture broad opinions; 

2.    Workshop where participants developed solutions together; 

3.    Proposed policy measures shaped from these views, including six concepts for authorities to consider. 

Importantly, communities asked for clearer communication of findings, independent monitoring, and recognition of cultural values. The SEA-REMP also identifies several knowledge gaps and the need for more research and monitoring.  

The full REMP Report is now available on the SBMA website along with further information: https://www.sbma.gov.ck/ebmf-sea 

Importantly, the SEA does not decide whether any mining will go ahead; that remains a decision under Cook Islands law. Instead, the SEA-REMP acts as a “front wheel” in the EBMF, setting direction while being continually updated as new information becomes available.  

SBMA encourages all Cook Islanders to read the report and share their views via the link on the website: “Our ocean, our voice, our future.”

For further information or media queries, please contact: [email protected].