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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY – THE COOK ISLANDSand the Cook Islands government is seeking to promote the wider use of solarand other alternative energy sources in an effort to reduce dependence onimported fuel.MINERALSThe Cook Islands is not endowed with land-based minerals but have greatpotential in deep sea nodule minerals that are rich in cobalt. Scientific expeditionshave revealed the quantities of manganese nodules on the sea beds of the islandsnorth of Rarotonga.In the Cook Islands, the term mineral is mainly applied to sand deposits of thebeaches or materials from quarry. Extensive mining of beach deposits has beengoing on for over fifty years and is widely believed to be a major contributor tocoastal area retreat on Rarotonga. Quarried basalts on Rarotonga, and limestoneon Aitutaki and Mangaia have provided metal for road-building and constructionpurposes for years.BIOLOGICAL FEATURESThe islands of the Cook Islands are remotely located on the lower end of abiological diversity gradient which diminishes with distance from the continentalland masses and the equator; hence they have little diversity in flora, fauna andmarine life in comparison to their northern and eastern neighbors.The Cook Islands is near the center of the tropical South Pacific, which iswell along the eastward decline in biodiversity as one moves from Indonesiaand Papua New Guinea eastward through Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, to the CookIslands and beyond. Furthermore, the oceanic gap between Samoa and Tonga,about 1 000 km, is a very significant barrier to the dispersal of plants and animals,both terrestrial and marine.FLORAThe Cook Islands has an endemism rate of about 10 percent. Of the 173 floweringplants recorded, 18 are endemic. There are many introduced plant species in theCook Islands, many of which fall into the food plants and ornamental plantcategories. However, there are also a large number of plants introduced to improve187