BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE
The adverse effects of climate change on the land and sea will hinder women’s opportunities to sustain their livelihoods.
This is according to Cook Islands Member of Parliament, Hon Nikki Rattle who was speaking at the Pacific Women’s Parliamentary Partnership Workshop at the Heritage Park Hotel yesterday.
She emphasised that because of climate change, women in Cook Islands will not be able to rely on their islands resources as how much they used to.
Hon Rattle explained that women depend very much on the natural resources to support their families whether it is crafting an island necklace from little shells that hover beneath rocks that rest in the shallow waters to sell in the main island to looking for wild leaves that rest in the deep forests turned into garlands for student graduations in Hawaii, women rely heavily on what their islands naturally provide.
In this regard, she stressed that due to climate change and it’s adverse effects they are looking at ways of reviving their resources and one example is the idea of using nurseries to cater for their soil grown resources.
The workshop not only paved way for the Pacific region’s female leaders to enlighten others of their island struggles as it also created a path for them to come together as women, mothers and leaders of their country to work together towards discovering the alternatives and strategies on how they can vigorously address the climate change issue in the present day and in the days to come.
