Tonga Met Service to Consider Use of Traditional Knowledge Indicators in TV weather bulletins following Traditional Knowledge workshop

The Tonga Meteorological Service (TMS) is set to enter a new frontier in its work to incorporate traditional environmental indicators in weather and climate forecasting and warning systems following a week-long training workshop held at the TMS headquarters in Fua’amotu.

The enhancement of Tonga's pioneering Traditional Knowledge (TK) database as a unique and innovative resource to be used by TMS, including for its daily television weather bulletin, was the focus of the workshop organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) through the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific Phase 3 (COSPPac3) project. 

Through training in traditional knowledge documentation, database management, and communications, the workshop looked to strengthen the TMS’ capacity to record and manage traditional knowledge that is relevant to weather, climate and natural hazards. This work also supports the preservation and integration of generations of Tongan weather and climate knowledge, ensuring traditional knowledge continues to inform climate resilience and decision-making.

Director of the Tonga Meteorological Service, Mr Laitia Fifita, said preserving traditional knowledge is essential to safeguarding an important part of Tonga's heritage while strengthening the country's resilience to future climate challenges.

"Documenting traditional knowledge is not simply about preserving our past, but also about using generations of lived experience to help protect our future," Mr Fifita said.

"By integrating traditional knowledge with climate science, we can develop public weather and climate services that are more meaningful, trusted and accessible to our communities, ultimately helping to build a safer and more resilient Tonga."

Two of the TMS Forecasters, Ms. Lineni Latu and Ms. Vaiola Vainikolo, stated that by incorporating traditional knowledge indicators into their television weather bulletins, they are connecting the science and with the knowledge and observations that Tongan communities are used to and have used for years. 

“For example, when people see clear skies at sunset, traditional knowledge tells us this can be an indicator to prepare for a cooler evening. Sharing these indicators alongside our weather information helps the public better understand what they are observing in their own environment and, importantly, how they can prepare for the conditions ahead.”

COSPPac3 Traditional Knowledge Adviser, Ms Siosinamele Lui, said community-led documentation, protection and application of traditional knowledge has enormous potential to strengthen resilience across the Pacific.

"This approach places traditional and indigenous knowledge holders at the centre as leaders and knowledge authorities, ensuring that data collection processes uphold cultural protocols, data sovereignty and intergenerational knowledge transfer," Ms Lui said.

The workshop has also provided an opportunity for the TMS to revisit traditional knowledge previously collected by Tonga Meteorological Services and partners over a number of years and begin systematically entering and safeguarding these records within its traditional knowledge database.

At the conclusion of the workshop, the TMS had significantly increased the number of TK records in its TK database, as well as incorporating TK indicators in their daily television weather bulletins and identifying which of their existing weather and climate products can have these TK indicators integrated into. 

The workshop was organised as part of the COSPPac3 and Republic Of Korea-Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Services (ROK-PI CliPS) projects’ support to Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to strengthen climate services and preparedness for climate variability and extreme events by enhancing the use of both scientific and traditional knowledge systems, supported by improved data collection, management and climate information databases.

About COSPPac3 

The Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific Phase 3 (COSPPac 3) project is a four-year project funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Government of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), which aims to support Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to deliver useful and usable climate and ocean information services to enable all Pacific peoples to remain resilient to the impacts of climate change and disasters. It is jointly implemented by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Earth Sciences New Zealand, Geoscience Australia, the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.