PRESS RELEASE: PRINCE CHARLES TO VISIT CCC FIJI
Added to website: 04 March 2005
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales will visit the British coral reef conservation group, Coral Cay Conservation, during his two-day visit to Fiji next week.
CCC’s presence in Fiji stemmed from the severe coral bleaching event of 2000 in which more than 50% of corals within the Mamanuca Island Group were affected. Resort managers and dive operators, in consultation with the Government and other stakeholders, contacted CCC to express their concern and seek advice and guidance.
Prince Charles will visit CCC’s project base on Qalito Island, also home to the world famous Castaway Island Resort. There, His Royal Highness will observe a CCC dive team in action from a glass-bottomed vessel before meeting with project leaders and volunteers for a project briefing. The Founder and Managing Director of CCC, Peter Raines, who last year received the MBE from Prince Charles at his Investiture at Buckingham Palace for services to the preservation of biodiversity, will travel to Fiji to represent CCC during the Royal visit.
Upon receiving news of the visit Peter said: “Coral Cay is delighted and honoured to learn of the visit by His Royal Highness to our project in Fiji. Prince Charles is known to take a keen interest in biodiversity conservation and we hope that His visit will highlight the positive actions being undertaken to help protect Fiji’s fragile coral reefs and the livelihoods of the Fijian communities dependent upon a healthy environment”.
Since 2001, hundreds of CCC Volunteers participating on the ‘CCC Fiji Coral Reef Conservation Project’ have successfully surveyed hundreds of kilometers of reefs in the Mamanucas, the Yasawa Island Group and the Coral Coast of Viti Levu. Based on the vast quantity of data gathered, significant progress has now been made towards the conservation of the coral reef resources of Fiji, including the identification of the most biologically suitable areas for the creation of Marine Protected Areas and traditional Fijian ‘tabu’ (no-take) zones.
During His visit to CCC in Fiji, Prince Charles will also meet with representatives from local communities, Government, the Mamanuca Fiji Hoteliers Association and the Mamanuca Environment Society.
Note to Editors
For further information on Coral Cay Conservation please visit www.coralcay.org or contact Ms. Tanya Blackburn (Director of Public Relations) via e-mail at tb@coralcay.org or telephone on +44 (0)20 8545 7718.
