On the remote south coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia, its Jurassic peaks and azure lagoon accessible only by boat, Patrick Rochette is explaining how centuries-old Polynesian conservation traditions are being revived to protect this unique environment.

Mingled with gruesome tales of the island's history of tribal wars and the roots of wave-riding, it's a compelling account that resonates with the school children that the Tahitian elder has brought to this idyllic spot close to the Olympic surfing venue of Teahupo'o.

Among the interconnected Polynesian concepts lost or repressed during Tahiti's French colonization that Rochette describes: respect for tupuna, the ancestors; mana, the spiritual power of people and places; tapu, which is sacred; rahui, a restriction or prohibition; and the guardians — the whales, sharks, turtles.

For Rochette and others, countering the pressures of over-exploitation and climate change go hand-in-hand with a cultural renaissance in the Pacific island group.

"We Polynesians, in 15 or 20 years, if we don't do anything, there'll be nothing left," Rochette said in a boat, speeding down the jungle-clad coast. "We have to do it together, not just here, but the Pacific community has to do all of this together."

Polynesia (from the Greek words meaning "many islands") is a large grouping of over one thousand islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean.

The Polynesian Triangle encompasses some 10 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean with Hawaii, New Zealand (Aotearoa) and Easter Island (Rapa Nui) at its corners. Its people, who trace their lineage back to a spiritual homeland, are closely connected by language, culture and their seafaring history.

As ideas of sustainability and conservation build momentum around the world, the adoption of traditional and culturally relevant approaches is becoming more popular among indigenous communities.

In Polynesia, an intimate knowledge of the moana, the ocean, and the concept of guardianship is resonating as pressures on reefs and lagoons from both development and climate change.

Wave of 'mana'

Tereva David is working with the local Teahupo'o community to embrace the Polynesian way of living in harmony with the environment.

One of the best to ride the Paris Olympics' ferocious wave in front of his village, David has run camps for promising young French Polynesian surfers for the past decade.

David, 35, teaches them respect not just for the wave, but for themselves, for each other and for their culture and environment.

"My mom, when she was a little girl, she was forbidden to speak Tahitian," he said. "For a while there, it wasn't looking good when you speak Tahitian — 'Oh, you're too rude, or you're from the street, or from Teahupo'o, in the bush.'"

Now, Tahitian language and culture are sources of pride in Teahupo'o, where clear rivers run through the village to the black sand beach and the lagoon.

Olympic gold for 22-year-old local surfer Kauli Vaast also generated great mana, spiritual power or cultural pride.

"Only kings were able to surf here before," David said. "For us, surfing is sacred, it's the culture — like dancing, like canoe paddling, like singing, like making food for everybody."

David said the community had worked to ensure having one of the world's most powerful and alluring waves on their doorsteps fully benefited the village.

Locals now provide surf camps, camera operators, taxi boats, and water safety patrols when top surfers come for big swells.

"It took us a long time but we finally did it. Now, nobody comes in and does it like the circus — we regulate," said David.

"For us, it was the thing to do, to represent our mana, to represent our tupuna, our ancestors."

Agencies via Xinhua