location: Fiji

location: Fiji

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‘The forest is so much more than money’: Q&A with Fijian carbon project ranger Jerry Lotawa
- Jerry Lotawa grew up in Drawa village in the forested highlands of Fiji’s largest island, and is now putting his ecological knowledge to use as lead ranger for the country’s first verified forest carbon project.
- The Indigenous-led project protects 4,120 hectares (10,181 acres) of rainforest that’s under threat from logging and clearing for agriculture, through a 30-year conservation lease that stretches across land belonging to eight mataqali (clans).
- The project has been selling carbon credits since 2018, with the proceeds distributed to the mataqali according to the amount of land they set aside for conservation, and each clan then choosing whether to share the money equally among its members or to hold it collectively for larger projects such as education and infrastructure.
- According to Lotawa, the project has helped locals to better understand the importance of their forest in maintaining their lives and livelihoods, and to pursue economic activities that don’t negatively impact the ecosystem.

Photos: Fiji’s first Indigenous-owned carbon credit project
- Fiji’s first verified forest carbon credit project is based in the Drawa rainforest on the country’s largest island, and has been earning income for its Indigenous landowners for five years now, in exchange for keeping their forests standing amid pressure from logging companies to fell its ancient trees.
- To make sure the project offers a compelling alternative to quick cash from logging permits, alternative livelihood opportunities are important ways to provide day-to-day income for individuals, alongside the cash from carbon credits that’s disbursed to mataqali (clans) on a quarterly basis and often used for collective projects.
- A number of local young men have been trained as rangers to monitor the protected areas, while other villagers, mostly women, are benefiting from their roles in a growing rainforest honey business — though scaling up the business to a more lucrative level remains a challenge.

Study finds locally managed marine areas in Fiji yield mixed results
- A study found that Fijian communities engaged in the country’s locally managed marine areas network, known as FLMMA, exhibited strengths in the mechanisms believed to advance conservation efforts, such as community participation in decision-making and financial support.
- However, it also found that FLMMA villages didn’t necessarily experience improved economic well-being, wealth, food security or even better ecological outcomes for marine resources.
- The authors say they hope the results will encourage practitioners to reassess community-based marine management projects to understand how they can be modified for success.
- Fiji has one of the most extensive LMMA networks in the world, collectively covering more than 10,000 square kilometers across the country’s territory.

For urban poor in Global South, nature-based solutions have always been a way to get by
- Nature-based solutions are increasingly being seen as a way of providing societal benefits and conserving biodiversity.
- Informal settlements, which lack necessary infrastructure and are often at the forefront of climate change and other natural disasters, can benefit from nature-based solutions and improve residents’ quality of life.
- A recent study explored the different forms of nature-based solutions in practice in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, their benefits and disadvantages, and identifies factors that make them successful.
- While the term “nature-based solutions” has recently been popularized in the Global North, researchers note that communities in many parts of the world have engaged in these practices for centuries.

It’s time to embrace community-led conservation vs. the colonial kind (commentary)
- Conservation NGOs often enter countries like Fiji and advise local and Indigenous communities on how to protect their land and sea territories, or worse, acquire land and preclude the traditional residents from it.
- More NGOs are embracing community-led conservation, though, and we must embrace this, a new op-ed by a former Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji argues.
- “Fiji does not need new ideas on how to protect their ‘iqoliqoli’ (marine areas). Instead, Fiji has a lot to teach the rest of the world,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Worked to death: How a Chinese tuna juggernaut crushed its Indonesian workers
- One of China’s biggest tuna companies, Dalian Ocean Fishing, made headlines last year when four Indonesian deckhands fell sick and died from unknown illnesses after allegedly being subject to horrible conditions on one of its boats.
- Now, an investigation by Mongabay, Tansa and the Environmental Reporting Collective shows for the first time that the abuses suffered by workers on that vessel — most commonly, being given substandard food, possibly dangerous drinking water and being made to work excessively — were not limited to one boat, but widespread and systematic across the company’s fleet.
- Moreover, migrant fishers were subject to beatings and threats to withhold pay if they did not follow orders. Many have not received their full salaries or been paid at all.
- China has the world’s largest distant-water fishing fleet, and Indonesia is widely believed to be the industry’s biggest supplier of labor. In 2019 and 2020, at least 30 fishers from Indonesia died on Chinese long-haul fishing boats, often from unknown illnesses.

What’s fair in conservation to locals? Just ask, study says
- In many protected areas, the distribution of funds for conservation seldom considers the Indigenous population’s views on how the money should be spent.
- In Fiji, the Indigenous iTaukei people co-manage Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park, a marine protected area, under traditional rules and values.
- Researchers did a study at Vatu-i-Ra where they asked the local population what they see as the fairest way to distribute conservation funds.
- They discovered to their surprise that the iTaukei felt the fairest means of fund distribution was according to who has customary rights, and not equal benefits or the opportunity-cost approach, as is typically practiced in Western conservation.

Nine new Fijian bees described, some restricted to a single mountaintop
- From the island country of Fiji, researchers have described nine new, and four previously known, species of bees belong to the genus Homalictus, a group that’s not been taxonomically reviewed in Fiji for 40 years.
- Many Homalictus bee species either have very restricted distributions or are known only from single mountaintops, the researchers say, and could soon become extinct due to changes in climate and other environmental risks.
- The researchers underscore the need for repeated field surveys to document and describe species from Fiji before they are lost.
- One of the four previously described bee species may have already gone extinct, having not been recorded since 2010, despite extensive surveys in the area.

‘From possibility to certainty’: Climate strikers seek action to avert disaster
- Youth activists taking part in the global climate strike have underscored the urgency of taking meaningful action to mitigate the environmental and humanitarian disasters posed by the climate crisis.
- Many low-lying territories in Asia and the Pacific are already struggling with rising sea levels, posing a major challenge for governments dealing with unprecedented levels of internal displacement.
- The activists have also filed a petition with the U.N. Human Rights Commission, seeking to hold polluters accountable for the human rights violations arising from the climate crisis.
- They also want to countries like the Philippines, one of those considered most vulnerable to climate change impacts, to fight harder for justice from richer, more polluting countries.

Cyclone harmed Fijian crab fishery in 2016, research finds
- Research published in the journal Climate and Development demonstrates that Tropical Cyclone Winston damaged mud-crab fisheries in Fiji in 2016.
- Surveys of the mostly women crab fishers in Bua province before and after Winston, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, revealed that mud crabs were smaller and less numerous following the cyclone.
- The research could help government agencies address the lingering impacts of natural disasters to community fisheries.

Women in small-island states exposed to high levels of mercury: study
- Tests of hair samples from hundreds of women in small-island countries and territories found 75 percent had mercury levels high enough to cause fetal neurological damage.
- Nearly 60 percent of the women had mercury levels exceeding a threshold beyond which brain damage, IQ loss, and kidney and cardiovascular damage can occur.
- The report attributed the mercury pollution in fisheries in these regions to air emissions of the toxic heavy metal emanating from coal-fired power plants and artisanal gold mining.
- The researchers have called for a complete ban on the trade in and use of mercury, and urged a transition away from coal power to renewables.

In Bali and beyond: An urgent focus on coral conservation (commentary)
- Millions of people depend on coral for their nutritional health and well-being.
- But we are damaging coral reefs today: with sediment that flows from rivers, caused by development and deforestation on land; with overfishing that upsets the delicate balance of species on reef; with chemicals, like cyanide, that are used to catch fish when there are few left to catch; with the rise in temperature caused by our continued dependence on fossil fuels.
- There is reason for hope, though. Some coral reefs around the world are stronger, more flexible, and more resilient than others to changes and threats in their environment. These reefs need to be protected.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Casting for another job: will fishers take up a new livelihood?

Can alternative income programs save Fiji’s reef fish? If a country’s residents, historically, didn’t fret about their coastal resources or concern themselves with starvation, what happens when those previously abundant resources start diminishing? How does a culture shift gears into thinking conservatively? There’s no question that solutions are sorely needed for Fiji’s declining reef fisheries. […]
Reeling in religious messages: how faith impacts fisheries in Fiji

Marrying religion and conservation could be key to making Fiji’s fisheries sustainable Fijians appear to enter life with vocal cords prepped for singing. It’s an ideal trait, because most are deeply devoted to church where their voices are put to good use. When walking through villages on any given day, these beautiful sounds can be […]
Fishing for coherent regulations along Fiji’s coral reefs

Will Fiji implement a much-needed update to its fisheries laws before the September election? If you want to quiet a room in Fiji or feel like a lobster in a boiling pot, bring up coastal fishing rights, and ask what’s happening with the plan to update the country’s fisheries laws. In September Fiji will hold […]
Dying for Fiji’s Sea Cucumbers

What’s it Worth? Deepening pressure on Fiji’s coral protectors. Redfish, Greenfish, Blackfish. Pinkfish, Curryfish, Lollyfish. They sound like Dr. Seuss characters and certainly look like they should be. Yet these sausage-shaped, rubbery animals stippled in fleshy bumps are not fish at all, but an invertebrate in the group that includes sea stars, sea urchins and […]
Former Miss South Pacific steps into new conservation role

Alisi Rabukawaqa, an articulate, vibrant, 26-year-old Fijian known in Oceania as Miss South Pacific 2011, has set her sights on a novel conservation program in Fiji. The Conservation Officer program, created in 2013, supports natural resource management within villages in Fiji and links them with the government arm overseeing the needs of indigenous Fijians (iTaukei […]
Protected forests linked to healthy coral reefs in Fiji

Increasing forest protection in the right areas could increase benefits up to 10.4 percent to coral reef condition, according to a recent study of Fiji’s forests and reefs in Marine Policy. Benefits from protected forests such as improved water quality due to decreased runoff and increased distribution of the vegetation are more closely linked to […]
Two journalists awarded prizes for reporting on fisheries in the Pacific

Fisherman loading sardines for export into the back of a pickup truck in Batu Putih, North Sulawesi. Recently, Mongabay.org – a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness of social and environmental issues relating to tropical forests and other ecosystems – has announced the winners of two environmental reporting prizes under its Special Reporting Initiative (SRI) program. […]
98% of marine fish headed for the aquarium trade die within a year in the Philippines

Almost all wild caught marine fish for the aquarium trade will die within a year of capture, according to WWF. Following months of interviews with Filipino marine exporters and hobbyists, WWF-Philippines have found that roughly 80% of all marine fish die before they are sold, and those that survive long enough to be bought by […]
Picture: Fluorescent lizardfish, glowing reefs in Fiji

Blue light shows off the flourescence of this lizardfish on Toyota reef, Fiji. Photo © Keith Ellenbogen The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other partners are currently exploring a remote coral reef off Fiji’s Totoya Island. Accompanying the organizations is Roko Sau (Roko Josefa Cinavilakeba), the current high chief of Totoya Island who will this […]
Fiji eyes investment from Malaysian palm oil industry
Officials in Fiji met with investors from the Malaysian palm oil industry this week to discuss the potential development of oil palm plantations in the Pacific island nation, reports FijiVillage.com. Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Industry and Trades Saipora Mataikabara said the Malaysian investors have identified land in Lomaivuna. The developers are seeking a […]
On the edge of extinction, Fiji petrels observed at sea for the first time

The Critically Endangered Fiji petrel has been observed at sea for the first time by BirdLife International and NatureFiji-MareqetiViti. First recorded in 1855 from one specimen found on Gau Island, Fiji, the rare seabird disappeared from scientific view for 130 years. Beginning in 1984 a handful of ‘grounded’ Fiji petrels Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi were found after […]
Unknown but critically endangered iguana species discovered in Fiji
Unknown but critically endangered iguana species discovered in Fiji Unknown but critically endangered iguana species discovered in Fiji mongabay.com September 19, 2008 Researchers have discovered a third species of iguana in Fiji. It is believed to be critically endangered, with a population of a “few hundred”. The bright green lizard, which reaches a length of […]
Avoided deforestation could send $38 billion to third world under global warming pact

Avoided deforestation help fight third world under global warming pact Avoided deforestation could help fight third world poverty under global warming pact $43 billion could flow into developing countries Rhett Butler, mongabay.com October 31, 2006 An avoided deforestation strategy for mitigating climate change could mean billions for world’s poorest countries while preserving biodiversity and ecosystem […]
Rainforests worth $1.1 trillion for carbon alone in Coalition nations

Rainforests worth $1.1 trillion for carbon alone in “Coalition” nations Rainforests worth $1.1 trillion for carbon alone in “Coalition” nations Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com November 29, 2005 [2006 update] If a coalition of developing countries has its way, there could soon be new forests sprouting up in tropical regions. The group of ten countries, led […]

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