Population and the South Pacific: A relational study of island movement, sustainability and environmental management

Islands as a systematic geographic phenomenon have been the subject of scholars and writers from a variety of disciplines. They are consistently recognized for their functions as small-scale insular spatial laboratories where theories and paradigms can be tested and processes observed in a setting of an insular, semi-closed system. Within the context of international development, the population component directly impacts the fragile physical, economic, and political environments of tropical island nations. The process of globalization spreads the possibility for improved economic conditions to every corner of the globe, causing increased emigration, labor migration, and population transfers. Theories of movement include the classical models of Thomas Malthus, the neo-Malthusian models, and the intensification models advocated by Ester Boserup. As population increases in these small island nations, major trends in island development are exposed, where environmental concerns must merge with economics in the decision making process. With this merger comes a visual conceptualization of successful sustainable activities and management policies that are able to be implemented well into the future.