Project update - Fiji Reef Conservation Project - August 2004
Added to website: 01 August 2004
Project Brief
Aim
The Fiji Coral Reef Conservation Project is a three-year project (2002-2005) 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 partners with the Government of Fiji, local communities, the tourism sector and other groups.
Marine Science Programme
Baseline Surveys
Number and location of Surveys
A. Mamanuca Islands
B. Yasawa Islands
Number of transects completed and opened
A. Mamanuca Islands
B. Yasawa Islands
Reef Check
A. Mamanuca Islands
None
B. Yasawa Islands
None
Interesting / Unusual Sightings
A. Mamanuca Islands
Have been surveying Supermarket recently so have seen several sharks including white tips, black tips and grey reef sharks. Sharks have also been spotted at Nuku and even one off House. Two white tips at Lovely Louise and 4 white tips at Vatu Yali.
Several eagle rays have been spotted off House and a small Portuguese Man-o-War (!)
A couple of Humphead wrasse have also been sighted, one at Yalo Drivi and one at Supermarket.
Add this to several large mackerel and numerous octopus and it has been a good month all in all!
B. Yasawa Islands
Napoleon wrasses, blue spotted rays, large Harlequin sweet lips and a number of sharks, including nurse sharks and white tip reef sharks. Furthermore, a school of barracudas, macrells and tunas have been sighted.
Environmental Awareness
Capacity Building/Training of Local Counterparts
A. Mamanuca Islands
This month saw the beginning of a series of community workshops run primarily by the Mamanuca Environment Society (MES) with support from Coral Cay. These workshops are designed to introduce the concept of the use of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as a conservation tool to the local communities of the Mamanucas. MES (with support from Coral Cay) are currently involved in the active promotion of the establishment of a network of reserves in the Mamanucas. This is a very large-scale project, covering diverse aspects such as the acquisition of funds for MPA establishment, the design and placement of reserves (based on CCC recommendations for placement), and increasing community awareness. A high level of community awareness is one of the most important aspects for successful reserve establishment, especially in a country such as Fiji where there is a traditional system of community ownership of the reefs, and where many people depend on their local reefs for subsistence fishing. The idea of the work being done now by MES and CCC is to cover topics such as basic coral reef biology and ecology in a preliminary workshop, moving on to the many threats reefs face today and the concept of MPAs in a second workshop. The aim is to reach all the communities with any ‘stake’ in the Mamanuca group - including both those villages on the islands themselves, and those on the mainland with ownership of reef areas within the Mamanucas. So far three preliminary workshops have been conducted successfully with villages on the mainland. These will hopefully continue with the island communities next month.
Apart from these workshops, the focus this month has been on planning for the future. Capacity building and training of local counterparts have just begun in the Yasawas at the new project site on Nacula Island, and a structured plan of these activities covering the next six months has now been written. This will allow better co-ordination of these activities with on-site surveying activities. The programme of activities planned includes workshops with the local dive operators and resort staff, as well as presentations for resort guests and training for local community members.
Also looking to the future, this month has been busy with preparation for the Coral Reef Awareness programme of teaching for Yanuya School on Yanuya Island. This will be run jointly by MES and CCC: the programme of teaching has now been finalised, and the workbooks written, ready to start at the beginning of the new term in September.
Finally, various Project Partners put forward several more potential recruits for the CCC Marine Scholarship Programme this month. The appropriate application forms have been dispatched, so hopefully soon we will have some more applicants for these scholarship positions.
B. Yasawa Islands
A Dive Operator Workshop is currently being put together for West Side Water sports, Tavewa Island Dive Centre. The starting day of the workshop is still to be decided.
Educational Programmes - Evanson Learning Centre
This month, two practical workshops have been held for grade 5 at Evanson Learning Centre by Miss Tuveng. The focus of the workshops was “coral reef awareness and methods for surveying the marine environment”. The students were first taken snorkelling to identify marine animal and plant families and later to carry out a survey of the marine substrate, using 1x1m-sampling quadrates. The student carried out the snorkelling and the sampling with great enthusiasm.
Ratu Meli Memorial School
So far, three out of 13 classes have been held at RMMS for grade 7. Topics covered this month include coral biology, coral reefs and reef fish. Lecture number four will be held in the first week of the next semester. There has been a good response from the students, which has been a real inspiration to the teaching project.
