The dispute over the Matthew and Hunter Islands (MHIs) has long been a constant strain on Vanuatu-French relations. The article examines this dispute in light of the Chagos Advisory Opinion and a few other cases concerning territorial disputes. It first submits that sovereignty over the MHIs had never been raised until 1962, when, at the occasion of a private claim, France and Britain, the two administering powers of the New Hebrides at that time, considered the issue. The two states reached an agreement in 1965, asserting that the MHIs were part of the French colony of New Caledonia and not the British-French Condominium of the New Hebrides. This article then considers the legal implications and lawfulness of the agreement, which did not take into account the local populations’ will. Although there are some important differences between the Chagos and MHIs disputes, mainly due to the fact that the MHIs are uninhabited, the applicability of the right of self-determination to both cases is nevertheless beyond doubt. The article contends therefore that the 1965 Agreement between France and Britain may constitute a violation of the right to self-determination of the people of the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), who were not consulted on the decision to attach the MHIs to the French territory of New Caledonia, and suggests that there may be, however, some other legal principles under international law that can come into play. Finally, the article contends that negotiated solutions could be a potential way forward for the parties involved.

Typically, a study of variation starts from the known and works its way into the unknown. But what happens when you are analyzing variation at the same time as you are grappling with the fundamental structure of the language? Whereas variationist methods often involve doing strategic violence to the data, isolating single variables, documentation tends to encourage a broader perspective. This article shows how documentation of Nkep (Central Eastern Oceanic, Vanuatu) has progressed when guided by a focus on internal and social variation. Three variables are discussed (the near merger of two front vowels, lexical borrowing, and the expression of subject agreement) to highlight the rewards and challenges associated with drawing together two subdisciplines (variation and documentation) that have not traditionally had much to say to each other. Analyzing variation alongside documentation encourages us to write ‘symphonies of variation’, as opposed to ‘sonatas’ of individual variables.

The occurrence of a series of raised coral reefs from the uplifted island of Malakula (Vanuatu, SW Pacific) provide an opportunity to examine sea-level fluctuations over at least the past 120,000 years. Thirteen fossil coral samples from Malakula were analyzed by the thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) U/Th dating technique, yielding information on sea levels during late marine isotope stage 3 and early stage 4. Our findings are in good agreement with sea-level estimates from raised coral terraces in Papua New Guinea and the recent sea-level reconstruction from the deep-sea sedimentary δ18O records. In particular, our coral data appear to confirm that sea levels at about 45,000–50,000 yr B.P. were only 30 to 60 m below the present level. Combined with other evidence of sea-level change, our data provide a strong case for much higher sea levels and therefore markedly reduced continental ice volume at 47,000 to 49,000 years ago.

This article investigates the difficulties in transplanting global legal norms into developing countries, specifically the problem of ‘false friends.’ This is a linguistics concept describing the situation where there is a striking resemblance between two words in two different languages, leading speakers of each language to assume, incorrectly, that they understand the word's meaning in the other language. Even more problematically, the misunderstanding is hidden by the assumption of understanding. We argue that similar problems can occur when there is a superficial similarity (but a fundamental mismatch) between particular global and local norms. We illustrate this through the example of global intellectual property regimes and their reception in Vanuatu and Mexico, showing how reforms are sometimes welcomed into developing countries on the basis of false assumptions that their aims are congruent with existing understandings. Finally, the paper develops some policy implications for avoiding the ‘false friends’ problem in a transnational legal context.

Many sea cucumber fisheries have dramatically declined worldwide due to rapid overexploitation and ineffective management. This study designed an innovative management strategy for small-scale, data-limited sea cucumber fisheries in Pacific Island countries. Firstly, a local quota-based comanagement system was implemented in New Caledonia to manage a small-scale sandfish Holothuria scabra fishery. A habitat map derived from high-resolution satellite imagery was used to stratify survey sampling and assess the harvestable stock biomass. The latter has been monitored as the reference biomass (RB) since 2008 and repeatedly used by the local fishers’ organization and Fisheries Department officers to set adaptive total allowable catches and regulations of fishing effort. Results showed the excellent performance of this fishery between 2008 and 2012, both biologically (167% increase in total stock biomass) and economically (146% increase in annual returns from catches). Secondly, the assessment of the RB was generalized to multispecies sea cucumber fisheries in Vanuatu in 2011 before the proposed lifting of a five-year national moratorium. Building upon these practical case studies in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, this paper outlines an operational framework to inform sea cucumber fisheries policy in these two countries and discusses the upscaling of the proposed management strategy.

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are a major tool to control malaria. Over recent years increased ITN coverage has been associated with decreased malaria transmission. However, ITN ‘misuse’ has been increasingly reported and whether this emergent behaviour poses a threat to successful malaria control and elimination is an open question. Here, we use a game theory mathematical model to understand the possible roles of poverty and malaria infection protection by individual and emerging ‘community effects’ on the ‘misuse’ of malaria bednets. We compare model predictions with data from our studies in Lake Victoria Islands (LVI), Kenya and Aneityum, Vanuatu. Our model shows that alternative ITN use is likely to emerge in impoverished populations and could be exacerbated if ITNs become ineffective or when large ‘community effects’ emerge. Our model predicted patterns of ITN use similar to the observed in LVI, where ‘misuse’ is common and the high ITN use in Aneityum, more than 20 years after malaria elimination in 1990. We think that observed differences in ITN use may be shaped by different degrees of economic and social development, and educational components of the Aneityum elimination, where traditional cooperative attitudes were strengthened with the malaria elimination intervention and post-elimination surveillance.

The Teouma site, on Efate in central Vanuatu, was uncovered during quarrying in 2003 and has proved to be one of the most significant discoveries to date for the colonisation of Remote Oceania. Not only did it bring to light a fine assemblage of the famously diagnostic Lapita ceramics, but a cemetery of more than 25 individuals along with the pots. The skeletons offer an opportunity to investigate the origins of the ‘Lapita people’ who first appeared in the Bismarck archipelago around 3300 years ago and rapidly moved through island Melanesia and Western Polynesia over the next few centuries.

Lapita pottery, the herald of the settlement of the wider island Pacific, turns out to have been painted with lime and clay, to give a red and white finish over the decorated surface. The find of a pot in Vanuatu, its sherds in different states of deterioration showed why painted Lapita has previously gone unrecognised. The author suggests that it was widespread from 1000 BC and reminds us that pottery was painted in China 7000 years ago.

Depuis une quinzaine d’années le développement despêcheries artisanales des pays insulaires est basé sur la pêche desgrands pélagiques à partir de l’introduction d’une innovationmajeure, à savoir l’immersion de dispositifs de concentration de poissons(DCP ancrés). Face à cet engouement récent et aux résultatstrès mitigés, voire aux échecs, souvent observés,l’article propose une démarche méthodologiqued’élaboration d’un cadre d’évaluation permettant unclassement de la diversité et complexité des transformations induites parl’introduction des DCP et une estimation de la durabilité de leurintégration. La notion de durabilité intègre ici des objectifs àla fois écologiques quant à la conservation de la ressource etsocioéconomiques en termes de maîtrise et d’acceptation d’uneinnovation devant favoriser l’évolution du système. Cette analyseest effectuée en croisant plusieurs points de vue disciplinaires –biologique, géographique, économique et sociologique – et encomparant différentes expériences relevant de contextes et decommunautés de pêcheurs variés. Le cadre d’évaluation secompose d’une série de 21 indicateurs de nature biologique, technique,économique et sociale. Une illustration est proposée à partir de troisexemples représentatifs de la diversité des situations : LaRéunion, les Comores et l’archipel du Vanuatu. Sur la base d’uneévaluation aux dires d’experts, chacun de ces critères faitl’objet d’une notation selon une échelle de 0 à 5 en fonctiondu caractère inexistant, incertain, notable ou pérenne des effetsobservés. Enfin dans un souci de d’opérationnalité etd’aide à la décision, une présentation graphique desynthèse est élaborée pour faciliter les comparaisons et identifierles points critiques.

Streams and rivers on the Vanuatu islands of Espiritu Santo, Pentecost, Éfate and Tanna were sampled for gastropods and thephysical and chemical characteristics of the water were investigated between 25/11/95 and 13/12/95. Twenty three species of neritidand forteen of thiarid prosobranch gastropods were found, together with the pulmonate Physastra nasuta and an opisthobranchspecies Strubellia. Six thiarid, two Clithon and one Neritina species, which are present in the Solomon Islands and SouthEast Asia, but which are absent further south on New Caledonia and the Fiji islands, were found on the Vanuatu islands. Onthe other hand, Septaria bougainvillei and Clithon pritchardi, which are present on the Fiji islands and New Caledonia, werefound no further north than the southern Vanuatu island of Tanna. This suggests that Vanuatu is a transition zone for both northernand southern freshwater snails. Éfate had many more species (26) than the other islands (16-19-. This was partly explainedby its central geographical position and the higher ion content of its streams.

To date, a high degree of polymorphism has been demonstrated at both the MSP1 and MSP2 loci in parasites from areas of stable malaria transmission. As a consequence, in such areas it is rare to find parasites of the same 2-locus genotype in more than 1 subject. We have studied MSP1 and MSP2 diversity in parasites collected from subjects with both symptomatic (n = 86) and asymptomatic (34) malaria living on the island of Santo, Vanuatu, an area of stable malaria transmission. Polymorphism at the MSP1 and MSP2 loci was considerably less than previously reported: only 5 MSP1 and 5 MSP2 alleles were detected and these showed no size variation within alleles. Santo is unique amongst the areas studied so far in that it is a small island at the limit of the malaria belt in the South Pacific. Thus, the evolution of the parasite population may have been affected by the small size and isolation of this island population. Moreover, limited parasite diversity may explain the unusually mild nature of Plasmodium falciparum disease on Santo. Islands have fascinated biologists for centuries and fuelled the advancement of evolutionary theory, since they are natural laboratories for the study of evolution. The simplicity of the Vanuatu P. falciparum population may facilitate the use and interpretation of sequence level analyses to address the mechanisms by which genetic diversity is generated and maintained in natural populations.

This article examines the distribution of speech acts based on the word sore ‘sorry’ in Bislama, the creole language spoken in Vanuatu. Three functions of these “apology” routines are identified and analyzed within the framework of politeness theory. Women are shown to use sore more frequently over all than men; they are also found to use sore to express empathy with the referent/addressee. Empathy is expressed in men's speech in other ways. The asymmetric distribution of sore is shown to make sense, given wider societal beliefs about and attitudes toward appropriate behaviors for women and men. Given a strict definition of a “community of practice,” it is clear that this shared speech behavior does not mean that women in this speech community can be said to form a community of practice. Analyses based on the speech community and intergroup distinctiveness are more useful in understanding this variation. This article has benefited from discussions with other members of the Language and Gender panel at the 6th ICLASP meeting, University of Ottawa, May 1997, especially Janet Holmes. Some of the data were also presented at the Second British Roundtable on Social Theory in Sociolinguistics, University of Wales, Cardiff, July 1997; discussions there with Ben Rampton and John Heritage were very helpful. My early thoughts were shaped in conversations with Herbert Morris and Gillian Sankoff. None of the aforementioned necessarily agree with the analysis presented here. Many thanks to the Wenner-Gren Foundation for their generous support in the field (#5742).