SAVUSAVU will soon become the pilot ‘Blue Town’ in the country with the intention of implementing the model across towns in the country and across the Pacific.
A statement from the Savusavu Chamber of Commerce’s president, Justin Hunter, said the model would be submitted to Cabinet for approval this week.
Mr Hunter said they were working closely with the Ministry of Local Government to ensure the model was right, providing tangible results to the Conference of Parties, United Nations Oceans Conference and the other philanthropy groups.
“Ultimately, it’s a model town we would love to see replicated not only across Fiji but our island brothers and sisters,” he said.
“The setting of the model will draw in major funding from the United Nations and other conservation philanthropy groups who are willing to assist the project.”
Meanwhile, a submission of the town model by Minister for Local Government, Environment and Housing Parveen Kumar, said although the term “blue economy” had been used in different ways, it was understood as comprising the range of economic sectors and related policies that together determined whether the use of oceanic resources was sustainable.
“An important challenge of the blue economy is thus to understand and better manage the many aspects of oceanic sustainability,” stated the submission.
“A second significant issue is the realisation that the sustainable management of ocean resources requires collaboration across nation-states and across the public-private sectors, and on a scale that has not been previously achieved.
“The ‘blue economy’ concept seeks to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the preservation or improvement of livelihoods.”
The submission was drafted by a working group of United Nations entities, the World Bank and other stakeholders.
