Children stand on a sand bank in the lagoon water beside Iolasa Island in the Carterets Atoll, Papua New Guinea

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Children stand on a sand bank in the lagoon water beside Iolasa Island in the Carterets Atoll, Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2006. Rising sea levels have eroded much of the coastlines of the low lying Carteret islands (situated 80km from Bougainville island, in the South Pacific), and waves have crashed over the islands flooding and destroying what little crop gardens the islanders have. Food is in short supply, banana and swamp taro crops are failing due to the salt contamination of the land, and the islanders live on a meagre one meal per day diet of fish and coconut. There is talk by the Autonomous Region of Bougainville government to relocate the Carteret Islanders to Bougainville island, but this plan is stalled due to a lack of finances, resources, land and coordination.

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Size: 3072px × 2048px
Location: Carterets Atoll, Papua New Guinea
Photo credit: © jeremy sutton-hibbert / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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