MAINTAINING GAIA

This is an article for the Fijian magazine, Mai Life.

In January a group of twenty-five community representatives were being trained as turtle monitors when by chance, a local fisherman caught a meter long Green turtle and the story of Lady Nakalou began.

The workshop, which was being held in the village of Nakalougata in the northern Vanua Levu province of Macuata, was providing participants with the knowledge and practical skills needed to perform the role of a turtle monitor in their communities. This included ways to identify and differentiate between the species of sea turtles found in Fiji, how to record data on turtles, and how to flipper tag them for future research.

Just as the workshop team were packing up and getting ready to head back to Suva the very same fisherman came running up from the beach with news of another catch. The workshop participants, and most of the village, headed down to see what the fishermen had discovered but few expected to be greeted by a huge Green turtle.

Turtles the size of Lady Nakalou are not often caught in these areas and it is even rarer that scientists have the opportunity to satellite tag them. Satellite tagging provides the best opportunity to collect much needed information on feeding habits, migratory routes and nesting sites, all of which helps contribute to their conservation.

There is still a great deal about the activities and movements of sea turtles that are not well understood and the information provided by satellite transmissions remain the best method of bridging this knowledge gap.

In order for Lady Nakalou to be fitted with a satellite tag she was transported across to Nadi where another turtle conservation workshop was already in progress. This also provided the perfect opportunity to showcase tagging techniques to the regional South Pacific audience that was present.

Six months on from releasing Lady Nakalou on Wailoaloa beach in Nadi, the data she has been transmitting back has been plotted onto a map which shows that she has returned to the area where she was first found in Macuata.

This return so soon after her release successfully supports the theory that turtles feed and nest in specific areas and provides vital confirmation needed for the continuing support of marine protected areas in Fiji – a key goal of the satellite tagging programme.

In 1998 WWF South Pacific started a project with the community of Navakosobu village on Vanua Levu island in Fiji and last week I visited the village to see the project 12 years later.

The project was to revive a traditional mat weaving technique that is unique to Fiji. More specifically, to revive the material used in the weaving – Kuta reeds.

WWF South Pacific worked with the community to restore the ponds where Kuta grows which took FOUR years to complete!

The result of which is that the community of Navakosobu is now one of only four places in the world (I think) that still make Kuta mats. As I learnt last week, this has now meant that it provides the village with a very healthy income and great amount pride.

Last week I travelled to a small and very remote village called Lutukina to assist in a wetlands workshop the WWF was facilitating.

The journey to the village was long and hard – a flight to Vanua Levu island, a two hour drive as far into the mountains as a truck could take us, and an another hours walk to the village with a horse carried equipment and luggage.

The result, however, was well worth it. Lutukina is an incredibly beautiful village; one completely isolated high in the mountains on the bank of a wonderfully tranquil river.

It was soon clear after entering the village that white people are not seen regularly. In fact, after asking a village elder, it seems like there has never been a white visitor to the village in living memory (even during the days of British colonial rule) and because a lot of people don’t leave the wider area, some had never seen a white person before. It resulted in a very interesting, if not also intense, week.

The purpose of the visit was to help facilitate a workshop – more specifically a workshop on the river system that runs through the region and how the communities can best live sustainably alongside it.

The WWF visited the area (called Dreketi) in 2008 and helped the communities to apply for a grant from the Global Environment Facility to help them manage their resources better and develop in a sustainable manner.

Happily the $30,000 (US) grant was approved and last week’s workshop was the first in a series of workshops that aim to help the communities better utilize their resources in a sustainable manner.

It was very clear, despite being unable to properly communicate (directly) with anyone, that the grant and upcoming workshops were greatly appreciated. Nothing like this had ever been undertaken in the Dreketi before and it was clear that over time a number of bad practices had been adopted that will easily be corrected with a little education.