Climate Change is an issue that is taking over Oceania. To Oceanic people, it is important that the land, sea, and environment is protected and preserved as there are interconnections betweentåno’ (land), identity, and the ancestors.

“I truncun nunu, or banyan tree, is an important tree in Chamorro culture because we believe that i taotaomona (the spirits of our ancestors) dwell within the space of the banyan.”

Craig Santos Perez, 2011

Craig Santos Perez has an interested in eco poems, focusing on the destruction of land and ocean within Oceania. Perez recognises that the issue of Climate Change needs to be addressed as it is a problem that is affecting all Island Nations. The use of poems and oral literature as an indigenous tool for reformation has been utilised by Perez to inspire and motivate Oceanic people to realise that our Islands are in need of urgent change. Climate change in regard to Oceania can be seen through the constant rise in sea levels, saltwater intrusion of freshwater lenses, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, and deforestation. These are just some of the issues that are either overlooked or not recognised by outsiders. However, Oceanic locals come face to face with these problems on a regular basis. Perez uses his works to raise awareness about the issues of industrialisation, consumerism, human greed, and arrogance. He uses these issues to talk about how these will affect the future of Oceania, its people, land, and ocean which all equally contribute to the livelihood of Island nations. Perez tells us that in order to make environmental changes within Oceania, the western and indigenous Oceanic world-views must unite for the benefit of future generations.

Water is life. This was one of the more profound messages captured from Chanting the Waters. It is an important message too as without water, we as humans are unable to survive.

Water is essential to the livelihood of Oceania. In western societies, there is more emphasis placed on the importance of land maintenance. However, land and water are both given equal attention when discussing Climate Change within Oceania. This is due to both land and ocean being essential for human survival. Perez is interested in using ecopoetics, which is poetry that has an ‘ecological emphasis’. As a well being a known Pacific Thinker in his league, he is able to utilise indigenous ways of knowing like oral literature to target an Oceanic audience. Through oral literature, he is able to delve into both spiritual and physical realms when discussing the issues affecting Oceania.

Perez uses ecopoetics in an indigenous Oceanic way (Oral literature) to raise awareness about water related issues. Perez shows that going back to Oceanic knowledges might be the solution for many land and ocean related issues. As western frameworks may not always be effective when combatting Oceania issues, putting them alongside indigenous frameworks might be the stepping stone to improving the ongoing effects of Climate Change.

In the “Towards an Ecopoetics of Oceania: Worlding the Asia-Pacific Region as Space-Time Ecumene” paper, ‘Epeli Hau’ofa, who has been a large influence to Perez’s work thus far, talks about how in Oceania we believe, we are the ocean. Therefore, there is a personification of the ocean, connecting the ocean to humans in the way that they are both living forces. In order for an individual to be healthy, they must fill themselves with good fuel. Likewise, in order for the ocean to provide and be healthy, it must be taken care of. It is in Oceanic tradition to be sustainable and innovative as individuals who are able to fight the effects of human ignorance.