Climate Change Adaptation in the Low-lying Atolls of the Mortlocks

The Mortlock Islands are a group of five atolls and one stand-alone island in the southern part of the state of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The elevation of the islands ranges from 3-4 metres above sea level, making the islands very vulnerable to the rise in the sea level. Traditional crops, such as taros and arrow roots, have been neglected in recent decades because of the increasing volume of imported food. Climate change is forcing Mortlockese to revisit salt-water resistant taros as an adaptation mechanism to the new threat. The long-term border lockdown resulting from the Covid19 pandemic is similarly forcing the islanders to look at traditional modes of food production because of the disruptions in international supply chains. Indigenous knowledge of food production is becoming essential to the islanders' future survival. My presentation will discuss how the low-lying islanders of the Mortlocks are responding to the consequences of climate change by pursuing indigenous agricultural practices.

Upcoming seminars in the DPA seminar series.
Research-Policy Nexus: New Developments about Pacific Studies in China by Denghua Zhang

Pan-Pacific Indigenous Responses to Globalisation and Climate Change by Regina Macalandag, George Carter, Zag Puas, Anita Togolo and Paul D’Arcy

Envisioning Pacific futures by Leituala Kuiniselani Tago, Jope Tarai, Athaulla Rasheed, Philippa Louey, Jayden Evett