Building of Resilient Communities in Ra , Fiji

On behalf of the local community from Nakarotubu District, Ra Province. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Global Giving Donors for your generous support to our community project.

On September 19, 2019, we organized a Talanoa Session- a discussion among the villagers on how to maintain and protect the mangrove forests. During the session, we encouraged the local communities to improve their coastal vegetation cover by continuously planting mangroves. We emphasized how mangroves provide them food source and protect them from disasters such as cyclones.

Organized in Nakarotubu District, the session was joined by 30 local villagers. A total of 1,255 mangrove seedlings were planted after the session.

On behalf of the local residents of Nakarotubu District on the coast of Ra Province, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to GlobalGiving Donors for your generous support to our project.

From June 25-28, together with our village coordinator, we conducted a survey to monitor the current situation of our mangrove reforestation project in Nakorotubu District. We also interviewed the elderly and the village leader to determine the factors that might affect the survival of the planted mangroves. In terms of growth, the result is quite remarkable as there is about 80% survival rate of the planted seedlings. We attribute this result from the active involvement of the locals. Their ownership towards the project guarantees long-term project sustainability.

In line with the national initiative of the Fijian government, we are contributing in their campaign of planting 4 million trees in 4 years to fight against climate change and build resilient communities. We intend to widen our scope to draw attention to the public on the positive effect of planting mangroves.

On behalf of the local residents of Nakarotubu District on the coast of Ra Province, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to GlobalGiving Donors for your generous support to our project.

As we work with the villagers, it is apparent that they are still struggling to survive from the aftermath of Cyclone Winston. We felt that the implementation of a simple approach for mitigation, including mangrove rehabilitation, does not suffice. We realized that assurance of food security and sustainable subsistence living are very important in uplifting the economic condition of the villagers.

We started working on these targets on March 11 to 15 when we conducted basic organic training involving the 45 local villagers, especially women from Veidrala and Naocobau Village. During the training, we engaged them to come and learn the organic farming practices, which will be effective for the production of healthy and sustainable food. We also encourage the involvement of women to participate since they are very active on daily chores whether looking for resources in the sea or tilling their land to plant crops. 

The response from the local were overwhelming and interest were noted from other nearby communities that this kind of training to be conducted to them. Equipped with our training center in Nasau, Sigatoka Province in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as well as our several decades of working experience in promoting organic farming, we are committed to improve the quality of life of the villagers.

On behalf of the local residents of Nakarotubu District on the coast of Ra Province, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to GlobalGiving Donors for your generous support to our project.

Several years of working at grassroots, we felt the need to improve awareness and demonstrate long-term benefits of conservation actions and sustainable management of natural resources among the local villagers. The local communities` preference for short-term financial gains over long-term economic and environmental benefits drives them to engage in illegal and unsustainable harvesting of resources, such as cutting of mangrove trees for firewood.

As we adopt the concept of learning-by-doing, we are addressing this problem by putting the locals at the core of conservation, protection, and rehabilitation. On September 18, 2018, we organized a dialogue session with the locals of Nakarotubu District, particularly the women to encourage their active participation into our Coastal Management Project. After the session, the participants joined in the mangrove planting activities to replace the once uprooted and damaged by the strong waves.

Meanwhile, we are working with the village leaders in strengthening law enforcement to help reduce, control, and manage direct pressures on the environment, particularly the mangrove forests. Somehow, with these efforts, it would contribute to the reduction and vulnerability of the villagers from natural disasters.

We would be grateful for outside support, in any forms for us to realize our goals.

On behalf of the local residents of Nakarotubu District on the coast of Ra Province, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to GlobalGiving Donors for your generous support to our project.

In collaboration with the other stakeholders, OISCA-Fiji conducted a number of workshops at Saioko Village to involve the community in sustainable management of the natural resources.

As an aftermath of the cyclone Winston in 2016, the communities on the Ra coast were greatly affected in terms of resource for subsistence living. The extent of damages and the usage of remaining resources resulted in the reduced capacity of the natural ecosystem to recover and provide efficiency to the users.

We are tapping relevant agencies to provide as much information, educate the locals of the need to adopt climate change patterns, and help in its mitigation, and most importantly, the assurance of food security and sustainable subsistence living.

Meanwhile, the expansion of the mangrove project at Nacoubao Village which involves the locals encourages coastal protection and enhancement of local biodiversity. We are encouraging the locals on their roles and responsibilities. It might take some time for them to fully grasp conservation means due to different levels of knowledge and skills.

Another area is that to sit with the community and discuss with them of issues and at the same time present and use real life situations and examples to simplify the practices we are implementing–this has provided some understanding to learn of the difficulties the locals are facing everyday therefore as discussed all activity to be forwarded and discussed in the village meeting .Conducting of the activity might be easy yet to change their mindset is a must since that is where their decision to act appropriately and be more proactive to any conservation means and practices.

We would be grateful for outside support, in any forms for us to materialize these plans and realized our goals.