【Fiji】Getting Back Bountiful Sea in Those Days

Tagaqe Village is located on the coast and has been damaged by high tides every year due to the recent climate change. The coast has been damaged by the strong current and trees, such as coconut, have been knocked down. Furthermore, seawater intrudes to the village and causes damages to field crops.

There used to be mangrove forest along the coast which protected villagers lives from the high tides. However people chopped down the trees for firewood and charcoal. As the result, there are few mangrove trees left. The principal of Tagaqe District School felt a sense of crisis over such a situation and asked OISCA for a support to recover the mangrove forest. In 2011, he started Mangrove planting project in cooperation with the village and 1,200 mangrove seedlings were planted by children and villagers.

Village elders said that they could catch a lot of fish close to the coast when there was a mangrove forest. But, now days they have to sail to the offshore to catch fish after decreasing amount of fish near the coast course of cut down mangroves. Villagers want to get back bountiful sea in those days for their children.