Many communities in the developing world do not utilize weather service broadcasts to the degree expected. Reasons for this include inappropriate methods of forecast delivery, time scales and contexts that inhibit application to their needs. In addition, modern scientific forecasts are generally not well understood by the lay person without specialist training. For these, and other, reasons many indigenous communities in the Pacific Islands continue to predict seasonal climatic conditions through personal observations and the monitoring of meteorological, astronomical and biological indicators (e.g. phases of moon, behaviour of plants and animals). Built over many generations, traditional climate indicators can provide forecasts that are more accessible, better understood and cover a time and spatial scale more appropriate to the needs of many Pacific Island communities. However, increasing climate variability and land-use change may make traditional indicators less reliable than before, thus increasing the community's exposure to climate-related risks. In this context we argue that public understanding and potential use of forecasts could be greatly improved by verifying and incorporating reliable traditional climate indicators with modern scientific forecasts. We demonstrate how several Pacific Island Meteorological Services have set up a framework to accomplish this. We discuss these efforts and review the potential that traditional knowledge has to provide nature based solutions for increased adaptation to extreme events and climate variability in the region.