April Update - Fiji Marine Project
Added to website: 01 April 2005
Project Brief
Aim
The Fiji Coral Reef Conservation Project is a six-year project (2002-2008) to survey coral reefs of the Mamanuca Islands, the Yasawa Islands and other areas of Fiji. The programme provides training and conservation education opportunities for local Fijians, as part of an integrated programme to develop local capacity and ensure the long-term protection and sustainable use of marine resources throughout the region.
Location
CCC Partners
CCC is working at the invitation of and in partnership with the Government of Fiji, local communities, the Mamanuca Environment Society, the tourism sector and other groups.
Marine Science Programme
Baseline Surveys
Number and location of surveys
Number of transects completed - 12
Reef Check
None
Interesting / Unusual Sightings
Rays have been a regular sighting this month with blue-spotted and common rays on house, Honeymoon and Vakaleciri, and a sizable devil ray at Vatu Yali.
To no surprise numerous white tips, black tips and grey reef sharks have been spotted Supermarket, together with a large pelagic black tip shark. Black tips and White tips have been spotted close by on house reef, together with young black tips frequently feeding in the shallows. A leopard shark made a reoccurring visit to a number of divers on a ‘rec’ dive at Vatu Yali. Sharks have also been spotted on various dives at i Ika Bazaar, Vakeleciri and Vatu Yali.
Turtles, tend not to be a regular sighting around here, however a few green turtles have been seen on house, another at Vatu Yali , and a hawksbill at Supermarket. As for fish; bumphead parrotfish and humphead wrasse have been spotted at Supermarket and Ika Bazaar and dogtooth tuna at our new site Namotu.
Environmental Awareness
For the last 13 weeks the Project Scientists of CCC (Gwilym Rowlands and latterly myself, Mike Dowell) have been teaching class 7 of Malolo District School the Environment Programme created by CCC and MES (Mamanuca Environment Society). This programme came to an end last week with the final session being devoted to improvisations highlighting the main themes of the programme, with special attention paid to marine conservation issues. The dramatisations were performed by the children with assistance from CCC volunteers and used props that the volunteers had made. The lesson was a great success and all involved had fun. The children have now completed their final exam, and the presentation of their certificates is to be held soon in the presence of the Headmaster of the school and the Ratu of the village of Solevu. In two weeks the programme begin again with a different school on the mainland.
Apart from the school programme, CCC have also joined MES at a number of meetings and seminars this month. A wastewater management seminar on the Coral Coast was aimed at demonstrating to resorts the environmental benefits of proper sewage management. Tokoriki resort also asked CCC and MES to have a look at their reefs in relation to the mild bleaching event occurring here in the Mamanucas. Whilst the bleaching event is a reality, preliminary observations suggest that it is not going to cause permanent damage to the reef.
Coral Coast Project
The Coral Coast Project has officially ended to the great credit of the Science Officers that worked on the project. Since finishing the surveys, the team have returned to all the villages that lent assistance and have presented them with kava as a thank you. A preliminary report has been presented to the Fisheries Department in Fiji, and the final reports are being written now.
Yasawas Project
Marine Science Programme
Baseline Surveys
Number and location of surveys
Total surveys – 108
Number of transects completed - 7
Reef Check
None
Interesting / Unusual Sightings
This month, Blue-spotted rays have been seen at sites all around Nacula and a group of 3 Eagle rays off the Southern tip of the neighbouring island of Tavewa, T101. More recently, a large 3m Devil ray was seen at a recreational site located within sector 6. White-tip Reef sharks have been common at T101 and other non-survey sites off Tavewa. They have also been seen at transects N101 and N102. A six-foot Black Reef shark and Lemon shark have been sighted at The Zoo, a popular recreational dive site, South of Nacula. A large Green turtle was spotted engorging a huge jellyfish off the West coast of Tavewa. A smaller Hawksbill turtle was also seen here and two others at the completed transect N506. At N506, in addition, Hump-headed wrasse have been spotted on several occasions.
The banded sea snake has been seen twice within the bay of Safe Landing Resort, where our CCC base is located within the Yasawas. With regards to invertebrates, a large octopus and Moray eel were sighted at N103 (South Nacula) and an attractive Tiger cowrie at N404 (West Nacula).
Environmental Awareness
Environmental awareness workshops have been planned for local villages on the Island of Nacula. These workshops will commence at the beginning of May and will continue for approximately 4 weeks. Each village will have a series of workshops with the content of these workshops including; coastal zone interactions and threats, coral reef biology, marine protected areas and fishing techniques. The environmental school programmes are also due to start in May, at the beginning of the next school term. Environmental programmes are planned for two local schools in the Yasawas; the Ratu Meli Memorial primary school, located on Nacula Island and the Richard Evanson Learning Centre, located on Turtle Island. Both these programmes will last approximately 5 weeks and will cover subjects such as the coastal zone, coral biology and reef formation, threats and benefits of coral reefs, marine protected areas and reef check survey methodology.
