TRAVEL
Pacific atlas details island nations
By Chris Oliver
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Pacific Ocean, Hawai'i's backyard watery playground, stretches from the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, from North America to Asia and Australia, 65 million square miles of deep blue surrounding more than 10,000 islands and a wealth of cultures.
The Pacific has long fascinated Max Quanchi, senior lecturer in Pacific studies at Australia's Queensland University of Technology. His "Atlas of the Pacific Islands," published this month by Bess Press, $24.95, is designed for students young and old who live and study in the Pacific region.
The "Atlas of the Pacific Islands" was written by an Australian academic and is aimed at students in the region.
Quanchi divides the atlas into the "Pacific Region" and "The World," using plenty of case studies — jumping-off points for discussion — to bring the countries alive and help kids make sense of the information.
For example: Why has the Solomon Islands' Morovo Lagoon been nominated as a World Heritage site? How did Africa's Great Rift Valley form?
There's a timeline case study for Bikini Atoll and a vivid explanation of how cyclones form over tropical waters. The atlas explains how to understand direction, use a map key, and read longitude and latitude. It has a world statistics table in the back.
In the Pacific section, Quanchi explores island economies, including agriculture, fishing, mineral wealth and conservation. In the world section, he explains climates, land forms and how the European Community came together.
Hawai'i's students will find four pages of text on our Islands with colorful maps and charts showing statistics, populations, topography, protected areas and volcanoes.
Each Pacific nation is presented with key facts, easy-to-read maps, diagrams, satellite images and both aerial and ground photographs.
Quanchi's love affair with the Pacific islands goes back nearly 40 years. In the mid-1960s, military service placed him in New Guinea as part of Australia's Pacific Islands Regiment, created to try to stem the region's growing communism.
"It was a huge learning experience," said Quanchi. "I was a classic bush kid. I'd grown up in the outback and had no idea there was a place called New Guinea."
After the army, he studied Asia before obtaining a master's degree studying Fiji, followed by a doctorate on Papua New Guinea. His enthusiasm for the Pacific region remained undimmed and he is currently a senior lecturer in Pacific studies.
Quanchi said the idea of a Pacific islands atlas was prompted simply by the lack of one at teacher workshops.
"It took about six years to persuade a publisher it was a viable project," he said.
What does he think are the most critical issues facing Pacific islands today?
"One issue is to convince the worldÊthat the Pacific is not an economic basket case, badly governed, racked with poverty, cyclones, over-logging and poor standards of living," Quanchi said.
"On the flip side, the world needs to acknowledge the Pacific is a paradise only in the West's own imagination. The crucial issues are freedom for the remaining colonial possessions,Êincreasing out-migration, rural-urban inequalities,Êeducation,Êrespect for tradition (old and new) and establishing a balance between chiefly rule and modern government."
How does he react to a school curriculum that no longer includes geography and history as specialized subjects, instead folding them into the broader "humanities"?
"It's not a problem, as geography and history are the key elements underpinning the new curriculum — really it's just a changing of names," he said. "But with the explosion of the Internet, film, TV and electronic access to knowledge, students perhaps don't feel the need to know the names and locations of countries, capitals and key historical sites — the new atlas hopefully will revive their interest."
When it comes to understanding a region, we humans offer the best lessons, Quanchi says.
"How Oceanic peoples today are managing their societies, environment and politics offers many lessons. Palauans must know more about Puka Puka, and conversely Tahitians must know about Tinian. Knowing about each other are the must-know factsÊand if the rest of the world learns what is really happening, that would also be a bonus," he said.
Does he have a favorite place in the Pacific?
"My first visit in the Pacific was to Papua New Guinea in 1966, and I've just returned from Samoa and Niue.ÊEverywhere, north and south, has been terrific. I have always had a soft spot for Kiribati, as itÊappears to be such a forbidding environment, yetÊits people are dynamic,Êadaptable and great dancers as well. Really, Oceania is my favorite place."
