Stories From the Field

Fiji: Resort Works With Village to Conserve Coral Reefs

by Alifereti Tawake, Bill Aalbersberg and Toni Parras
Photos by Toni Parras
May 2004

Zaidy Khan, Hideaway Resort's Marine Officer, shows a blue Linckia seastar found on
the Reef Walk Tour within Tagaqe's protected area.  Viti Levu, Fiji.  Photo by Toni Parras

Along the Coral Coast of Fiji's big island of Viti Levu, approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of the capital of Suva, a unique partnership exists between an international beach resort and the small fishing village adjacent to it. Years ago, the new owners of Hideaway resort did something rare – they came to the chief of Tagaqe Village in Korolevu-i-wai district, upon whose qoliqoli - or traditional fishing ground - the hotel fronts, to ask permission to use their waters for tourism.

Ratu ('Chief') Timoci Batirerega, whose two brothers previously presided over Tagaqe, is happy with the respect the resort owners have shown to his village's tradition and needs. "They have worked with our village chiefs for years all the way up to today, and give scholarships to the community for the neediest families," he says. In addition to giving scholarships, which they've been doing for 11 years, the resort owners also help support the village with development needs such as providing TV for the village youth, computers for the school, buoys or markers for marine protected areas, building materials, furniture and a computer for the Peace Corps Volunteers house, worth more than $10,000 Fiji dollars (roughly US $4,500).

Korolevu-i-wai's qoliqoli extends from the high water mark out to the reef break, about 500 meters offshore, and encompasses four adjacent villages, including Tagaqe, for a total area of 6 km2, with the resort in the middle. The fishing ground is composed of mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs, where mangrove crabs, clams, octopus, lobster, sea urchins, trochus, and reef fishes such as emperors, parrotfish, groupers, and mullets are caught. Of this, the area of reef in front of Hideaway is "tabu," meaning that fishing is prohibited.

Due to increasing threats such as use of destructive fishing methods (specifically, undersize nets for fishing, poison fishing using derris root, and breaking/overturning corals and rocks to catch octopus), coral harvesting, pollution, and coral trampling by tourists, Ratu Timoci initiated discussions with the resort and other village chiefs within the district. After hearing on the radio and reading news of successful conservation initiatives carried out with assistance from the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) Network, Ratu Timoci wanted to find out more about what they could do to address their threats. Annie Wade, who manages Hideaway resort together with her husband Robert, contacted Alifereti Tawake of FLMMA for help.

In response, FLMMA conducted several meetings and environmental awareness sessions with Ratu Timoci, resort staff and village elders, where Ratu Timoci learned about the concept of LMMAs and decided to try it in his village and district. Since then, LMMA workshops on Marine Resource Management and Biological Monitoring (where community members learn 'scientific' monitoring techniques) have been held in Tagaqe. After just one and a half years of setting up the LMMA, mullets and trevallys are being caught again in front of the villages, and monitoring survey results have indicated an increase in abundance of groupers, parrotfish, octopus and lobsters both inside and outside the tabu area due to the spillover effect. Ratu Timoci is so satisfied with this outcome that he now serves as President of the Environment Committee for his district and gives testimony at LMMA awareness workshops in other districts and provinces.

Meanwhile, Annie and Robert, also concerned about the reef health, sent their Recreation Activity Officer, Emori Qeruta, to participate in the workshops conducted in Tagaqe. There, the LMMA Network suggested the idea of coral farming as a way to help rehabilitate distressed reef areas. Hideaway sought technical advice from the University of South Pacific's Institute of Applied Sciences (USP-IAS) and Dr. Tim Pickering, and subsequently launched a coral farming initiative along reefs adjacent to the resort, which is gaining positive response from both villagers and tourists. Hideaway Resort also hired a marine biologist to help set up the coral farming program and to conduct hotel staff training.

Coral heads donated from Walt Smith International, an American wholesaler of marine fish and live corals, are placed on "racks" (wire mesh platforms) in about one meter depth on the reef to provide "brood stock" (spawning population) for regenerating the reef. Hideaway visitors can take part in a "reef walk" (a tour along a carefully marked path through the reef) to appreciate the marine environment and to view the coral racks. For a small fee (US$5), they can "sponsor" a coral in their name; the proceeds are split between the Tagaqe Village Environment Trust Fund and the resort (to defray expenses). Sponsored corals are planted in a coral garden just outside the protected area, where a small fragment taken from the wreck is affixed with epoxy onto a distressed coral head, which is first cleaned of any algae. Several youths from the village are now employed by the resort to guide tourists to the coral garden, plant corals, and help police the protected area.

German tourists Anna Maria and Otto Boehr give their impressions about the project: "When staying at the Hideaway Resort, we got to know about the coral farming project. We went on a very interesting guided tour and seized the opportunity to sponsor two newly planted corals. We hope that many visitors to your beautiful island support your idea. Maybe we will have the chance to come back one year to check on the two new corals now named 'Anna Maria' and 'Otto'."

The coral farming project is relatively new, so success is yet to be determined. Tourist numbers engaged in the project has increased steadily from 16 per month in August 2003 to 62 per month in March 2004. Hideaway Resort Marine Officer Zaidy Khan says that other corals planted almost a year ago appear to be doing well and official plans to monitor their growth are underway. Until then, Tagaqe and Hideaway enjoy the successful co-existence of an LMMA and a unique tourist attraction.