CCC in Kadavu, Fiji
Added to website: 01 September 2005
A few months ago a small voluntary staff team from CCC were invited by The Department of Fisheries within the Ministry of Fisheries and Forestry Suva and IAS (Institute of Applied Science) of the University of the South Pacific, to assist with data collection around the island of Kadavu. Since then CCC has been working in conjunction with KQMST (Kadavu Qoliqoli Management Support Team), who are subdivision of the FLMMA (Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas) network. FLMMA is Fiji’s own version of the LMMA (Locally Managed Marine Areas) network that operates throughout the Pacific and Asia. LMMA main aim is to build capacity within local communities in their project areas towards their management and protection of their local marine areas.
KQMST was set up just over one year ago to help the local communities of Kadavu set up and manage MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) with in their qoliqolis (traditional fishing grounds) to try and provide a better livelihood for future generations. In this area most of the MPAs have been set up in the last year since KQMST was established, however a few have been established for much longer. Kandavu has 33 qoliqolis and 26 MPAs hence nearly every qoliqoli has a MPA- an achievement that in itself is great news and is not repeated in many other Countries of the World. KQMST consists of the Provincial Administrator or Roko and Assitant Roko Tui Kadavu, Village chiefs, Village MPA/qoliqoli Management committees, Peace Corps volunteer, FLMMA Network, Ministry of Fisheries and Forests, Police and village Fish Wardens.
Over the past few months this small staff team has been assisting KQMST with their MPA surveys. This involved the core KQMST survey team consisting of the community co-ordinator, an American Peace Corps volunteer, another trained local working within the Department of Fisheries and CCC members working within the village communities, carrying out surveys in the qoliqolis of the villages. Surveying has involved data collection from the villages Tabu (Marine Protected areas) and Tara (fishing areas), making a comparison of the results collected with previous surveys of the area if applicable and presenting them back to the village before the team departs at a village meeting. CCC have assisted KQMST with 6 of these MPA surveys, and also help with a workshop in which one of these villages decided to set up and MPA. While in the villages, the core KQMST survey team also has the assistance of local village volunteers, who get the experience of seeing the survey work in action.
CCC has also assisted in increasing the training of core KQMST survey members to include substrate surveys which were not carried out before and also help increase environmental awareness of locals during question and answer sessions after the data presentations at village meetings.
In all this a very unique project in that it has the full support of the local communities and conservation initiatives who by all accounts are very passionate about helping to protect their coral reefs.
