Research project(s)
IRD in the Pacific region
Ciguatera, a new hazard for the intertropical zone
January 2001
Occurring throughout the tropics, ciguatera is a form of food poisoning caused by eating certain species of fish contaminated with toxins from micro-algae that live on coral reefs. 100,000 cases of severe poisoning are recorded every year. The symptoms are gastrointestinal and neurological: ...
Papua: exploring biodiversity in order to conserve it
January 2004
Papua, sometimes called Asia’s garden of Eden, may be the richest part of the world in terms of biodiversity. But there are deforestation programmes for the province and its biological resources are being heavily exploited. The first step towards protecting species is to identify and ...
Protecting our coral reefs: towards an effective world network
January 2002
To protect the biodiversity of the world’s coral reefs, the international organisations have adopted planet-wide conservation strategies including a system of Marine Protected Areas. An international team that includes IRD researchers has shown that at the global level this system is not ...
Seismic cycle and eruptive dynamics in the Vanuatu arc
January 2007 - December 2009
The islands of the Vanuatu arc stand on a convergence zone where tectonic plates meet and seismic and volcanic activity is high. The region has been a focus of attention from earth scientists for many years. Now a new multidisciplinary research project is under way to improve understanding of ...
