Our journey begins with a deep sense of responsibility to care for our ocean.
We are binding together our "afa," our ropes, to initiate a voyage of healing and renewal.
why one oceania?
International bodies have established policies, treaties, laws, and rules of engagement, without our presence or input. We now have the challenge of establishing our right for inclusion in these discussions, raising our capacity to do so effectively, while also changing tightly-held mindsets that Oceania is a place for the commons; its resources belonging to no one and available to anyone for extraction. As a result, investors and governments are prioritizing the promise of billions of dollars in benefits through unsustainable, large-scale extraction of the Earth’s finite resources.
As the people of the Pacific, we must take this opportunity to establish our own body and build a movement for inclusion in international policy-making arenas.
Single Fin Photo / Ocean Image Bank
How will we get there?
As seafaring people who have voyaged across open waters for centuries, we know that the ocean is our great connector. We are removing artificial lines that have separated us and are charting a voyage together as Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities united, as One Oceania.
To prepare, we provision our canoe with our traditional knowledge and generational observations. We move forward by reflecting an Indigenous perspective of conservation, leveraging allies in the science, nonprofit, and international policy arenas.
We will do this by reflecting an Indigenous perspective of conservation, leveraging allies in the science, nonprofit, and international policy arenas.
Our Approach
We believe that lasting change will happen, if we:
Elevate and amplify the voices of Pacific Indigenous leaders as guardians of the ocean.
Convene around shared objectives and priorities for the ocean, with the ability to advocate jointly as cousins of the Pacific with political leaders and international fora.
Bring forward our intimate knowledge and wisdom of the ocean, while raising our international policy capacity to meaningfully contribute in regional and international multilateral decision-making bodies
Work with an alliance of partners to leverage our Indigenous influence, including:
Scientists, including an integration of Western Science and Indigenous Science
Local, regional, and international nonprofits and individuals
Philanthropists
Government leaders
Intergovernmental organizations