MManyStrongVoicesArctic • Small Islands Developing States

Action on Climate Change

MManyStrongVoicesArctic • Small Islands Developing States

MManyStrongVoicesArctic • Small Islands Developing States

Action onClimateChange

MManyStrongVoicesArctic • Small Islands Developing States

Actio

n on C

limate

Change

Portraits of Rilience is part of the Many Strong Voic Programme. It illustrat in a personal way at climate change means to young people in the Arctic and Small Island Developing Stat and helps communiti create their own visual archive of the chang they are experiencing. More @ www.manystrongvoic.org���������������������

“…replenish the once beautiful coral reefs…”

Coastal Craze

Coral reefs are important for many reasons. They provide protection and shelter for many different species of fish. The reefs are also very important because they protect coasts from strong currents and waves by slowing down the water before it gets to the shore. That is why they are called barrier reefs. They provide a barrier between the ocean and the shore protecting coastal dwellings, agricultural land and beaches. However, these barrier reefs are no longer able to help protect the land and beaches from the brutal waves.

Namada, a village situated on the coral coast of Viti Levu in the province of Nadroga, is renowned for its sunshine, white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and smiling faces. Sadly, for the past decade, the villagers have been silently fighting for their livelihood. Due to the effects of climate change, portions of the sandy beaches have been washed away by the waves and the land has receded by 7 metres.

Vunisese - once a settlement situated on the outskirts of Namada village - started with a small community consisting of four houses and a few mango trees but today it is submerged when the tide comes in. At low tide, the remains of tree trunks and a shattered walkway of what was once a home can be seen on the beach.

Bola Tubuna, a village elder, said that the reefs are badly damaged and now the waves come up into the village, on some occasions flooding parts of it. He believes that in a few years’ time, the little bridge connecting Vunisese and Vatukarasa will collapse.

Businessmen are going into villages looking for ways to make “easy” money. They use up all the natural resources then leave without even helping the people re-establish their land. Most countries, Fiji included, are now slowly killing their reefs in order to gain short-term financial profit by selling coral and sand. They are doing so at the long-term cost of wiping out reefs.

— Esther Tagitupou

Rainforest in the Pacific Ocean

Coral reefs have been described as the rainforest of our island, Fiji. Coral reefs are home to many plants and marine life and have been a vital resource for centuries. Many depend on the sea for survival. In Fiji, damage to the reefs has been caused by destructive fishing practices like the use of dynamite, excessive harvesting of our coral for sale, careless divers and a dramatic increase in coral bleaching.

Coral bleaching is the loss of color from corals under stressful environmental conditions. The water temperature must be a constant 20 degrees Celsius for coral to grow well. Climate change not only effects sea levels but increases the water temperature which damages the coral and thus destroys our sea’s natural rainforest.

Namada Village is located in Kulusei, on the western side of our main island, Fiji. They have set up a “Taboo” or Marine Protected Area (MPA) where no one is allowed to collect any sea shells, crustaceans or fish.

They have started a very hard process of regrowing corals by breaking a small branch from the parent colony. These fragments are placed in a plastic pan of reef water. The next step is to choose the base rocks and prepare the attachment sites. Then apply the thick super glue to the prepared site on the base rock. They then pick up the cutting and press the newly cut fragment to the prepared site.

What is very sad to see is that people now have to resort to re-growing coral so that they are able to replenish the once beautiful coral reefs that now no longer exist. This would not have happened if people are good stewards of the marine environment and its dependent species.

Coral does not exist only for its beauty but is serves a purpose in protecting land from destructive waves and to lessen the force of a tsunami. It also provides a home for different marine life. Coral also plays an important role in our tourism industry.

— Talei Tokalauvere

Namada Village, Kulusei, Fiji

“…y they are called barrier reefs.”

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