Snowchange delegates are headed over to the South Pacific for a widest ranging tour of the region in five years. Visits will include Indigenous Australian communities, Solomon Islands, Aotearoa and Taiwan. In Finland warm winter continues but seining is still going strong as the ice conditions are excellent.
March is here and the first Pacific tour in five years is on. Snowchange delegates will visit several strategically important locations to reflect and decide on the next priorities and steps in the region. The tour will commence in Wet Tropics of Australia with the Indigenous Australian partners from Firesticks.
Moving on to Solomon Islands a Snowchange meeting will be held with communities from Hawaii, Vanuatu, the Solomons on the priorities of the support for small island communities for the next while. A special focus will be on traditional navigation and revitalization of voyaging.
In Aotearoa visits will be made with the Maori first on the South Island. Then moving to Taranaki, we will discuss issues of ecosystem restoration and Maori knowledge and explore the next priority areas of the region. Steering Committee members will exchange on the future of the small grants program.
Heading to Taiwan we will visit a range of Indigenous coastal communities to review the steps for the 2026 Festival of Northern Fishing Traditions slated for the island. Discussions on collaborations of marine and fisheries traditions concludes the tour.
In Finland winter seining continues. Catches have been varied but next week its all-staff day on the ice with Swiss-French guests from the European ICCA network. Production of canned vendace is expected to commence in the next few weeks. As we head to boreal spring more updates in April on science, community work and rewilding sites.
