Press Release - SeaWeb is the newest member to sign the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation charter in Samoa this week.

SeaWeb is an international nonprofit communications organisation dedicated to creating a culture of ocean conservation. During a function hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) for the participants attending the thirteenth Roundtable meeting, the official signing of the new member to this charter took place.

"We've been a friend of the Roundtable for some time, having signed the charter indicates a new chapter for us with the Roundtable," said Scott Radway the Asia Pacific Program Manager of SeaWeb.

"It signals our support for the principals of the Roundtable and as we march forward we hope our programme grows in the Pacific - hand in hand with the Roundtable activities and principals."

The charter of the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation has eight principals, these are; community rights, conservation from a Pacific perspective, ownership of conservation programmes, financial sustainability, good governance, co-ordination, capacity development and accountability. The Principles of Nature Conservation efforts in the Pacific reflect a meeting of over 200 stakeholders in Alotau, Papua New Guinea in 2007.

"We look forward to having SeaWeb on board," announced Mr. Taholo Kami the Chair of the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation and IUCN Oceania Regional Director.

"The signature commits the organisation to the principles of the Roundtable and commits them to working as part of our team in the region in terms of implementation of nature conservation and the regional action strategy."

There are now 13 current Roundtable members who are signatories to the charter; International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), University of the South Pacific (USP), Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), WWF, Conservation International (CI), Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), Locally managed Marine Areas (LMMA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), RARE Conservation, Birdlife International, Foundations of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum (PIBF), SeaWeb