Given the life-threatening problems facing the nation of Tuvalu, what are their options? Do the other peoples of the world have an ethical obligation to help? What RESPONSES might be enacted?
   Five possible options for the Tuvalu people are explored below.
1. MITIGATION: The population stay where they are but take measures to compat the existing and future problems
2. PARTIAL MIGRATION: Some of the population leave Tuvalau in order to ease the population pressure
3. COMPLETE MIGRATION: The entire Tuvalau population relocate elsewhere
4. AD HOC MIGRATION: Tuvaluans are dispersed throughout the world when a crisis forces them to do so
5. DELIBERATE MIGRATION: The entire Tuvalu population moves en masse to another location in a planned manner
A comparison of these potential options against various relevant criterea suggests that the optimal approach is probably a deliberate and complete migration strategy.

CARRYING CAPACITY
   An underlying aim of this study is for the Tuvaluan community to establish a settlement with a high degree of self-reliance - enough for basic food and resources. This is both an economic and practical imperative - it improves resilience (physically and culturally) and ensures that the relocation is not an economic burden on the host nation.    As such, a relocated Tuvalu community should live within the CARRYING CAPACITY of its local environment.
   Carrying capacity based land-use planning links a particular population with a particular piece of land. It assumes a reasonable degree of self reliance in the generation of food and resources within the defined area of land. Population size and lifestyle choices are then limited to the landscape. This approach ensures long term, sustainable outcomes because it recognises that our natural environment offers finite resources for local populations.
   It is thus important to establish the amount of land needed for basic self reliance. Further study needs to be conducted on thorough carrying capacity calculations, but preliminary research suggests that a land area of about 25km² is necessary for this population of 10,500 people. This calculation is based on the following premises:

• 1600m² is required per person for food and fuel
• 30% of the landscape needs to be dedicated to nature reserve in order to maintain adequate biodiversity. This equates to about 800m² per person.
• 5% of land area might need to be utilised in any settlement for infrastructure (buildings, roads, paths)
• Total = about 2500m² per person, or 4 people per hectare.
• Applied to a settlement of about 10,500 people: 17km² of usable land (food, resources & infrastructure) + 8km² nature reserve = 25km² total