Building of Resilient Communities in Ra , Fiji

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

In an effort to expand our Coastal Forest Restoration Project within Nakorotubu District, we conducted an awareness seminar involving the locals of Naocobau Village on September 23, 2020. The reason behind this decision is that among the seven villages in Nakorotubu District, Naocobau has the lowest number of mangrove vegetation cover. This made the locals vulnerable from strong winds, especially during cyclone season. It was felt by the locals when cyclone Winston hit Fiji in 2016. Without any mangroves that were supposedly shield them from strong winds and waves, the Naocobau villagers were immensely impacted by the cyclone.

Similar with what we have done in Saioko Village, we are collaborating with the village leaders to promote a sustainable community-led mangrove reforestation project. Through the workshop, the villagers realized the importance of planting mangroves to create a natural shield that will protect them from future natural calamities and to improve their coastal ecosystem. The Naocobau villagers are hopeful that just like the villagers of Saioko, in the near future, they will also experience having an extra source of income because of fish abundance.

Hoping for the immediate realization of their dream, right after the workshop, we worked together with the 30 villagers on the planting of 882 mangrove seedlings. We planted Rhizopora mucronata, a mangrove species suitable to be planted in the site.