TAPU stands for Tropical Atoll Preservation Union.
Many tropical atoll peoples have inhabited their islands for 1,000 or 2,000 years. Although these atolls are tiny, fragile ecosystems, many Pacific island peoples have lived sustainably for long periods of time.
To do so they have needed to make difficult choices concerning, for instance, population growth, agriculture, and so on.
Another factor that has contributed to island sustainability is the tapu or tabu system. On many islands, those who desired to harvest something from the sea had to get permission from the local chief. A chief could forbid fishing in order to protect a certain species or to build up reserves. In addition, certain fertile valleys and agricultural lands were problaimed tabu.
Of course such tabus would be instituted by a person of great authority.
I formed TAPU because I feel the Pacific islanders have the moral authority to raise a strong voice in curbing global warming.
The moral authority of the Pacific islanders derives from the following facts:
1. Pacific islanders have lived sustainably for thousands of years on their dimunitive atolls and islands.
2. They have maintained these ecosystems by realizing the limitations of the ecosystems.
3. These island ecosystems serve as metaphors for the fragile ecosystem of what some North American tribes have called Earth Island, the planet we all inhabit.
4. Although the Pacific islanders have lived sustainably on their islands, they will be among the first to suffer the effects of global warming. And they will be among the most thorougly devastated, because entire archipelagos and nations, such as the Tuamotos and Kiribas, will eventually disappear beneath the waves, after having lost their fresh water preserves to enroaching sea levels and their coral ecosystems to increasing sea acidity levels.
Therefore, the purpose of the blog, which I will soon turn into a Web site, is to encourage these island peoples to join together and raise their voices in one huge wave, so that the carbon-consuming countries will recognize their moral responsibilities.
In addition, I would like to see the Pacific islanders raise their voices in proclaiming the Amazon basin to be tabu. This is because the fate of the entire earth rests on the Amazon basin.
I refer readers here to the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). http://www.sidsnet.org/aosis/
I welcome all recommendations and ideas. Please leave comments here, or e-mail me directly at coyote atoll west.net (substituting "@" for "atoll").
