Twenty-five villages and a total population of about 9000 people on Ovalau have stood behind their chiefs and traditional leaders to take ownership of their actions and control how it affects the ecosystem they depend on for their daily livelihoods.
Last Friday, the four paramount chiefs on the island of Ovalau in Fiji’s Lomaiviti province committed to an integrated approach of natural resource management where the cumulative impact of human activities will be managed, with the aim of balancing sustainable development with biodiversity protection.
Witnessing first-hand multiple factors – including the impacts of climate change – that have contributed to depletions of natural resources, those on Ovalau, including Levuka Town that is home to the UNESCO World Heritage site in Fiji, have committed to manage their terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems sustainably.
With support from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an island-scale Ecosystem-based Management (EBM) plan was launched, and the four paramount chiefs of the island reinforced their commitment to supporting actions that help ecosystems that provide for their needs, build resilience, and able to continue the same for their future generations.
According to the WCS, the traditional leaders acknowledged its work with their communities to support them with livelihood projects, and to maintain healthy, productive, and resilient ecosystems.
WCS Melanesia director Dr Stacy Jupiter said the five-year plan, the second island-scale EBM plan developed for Fiji, resulted from extensive community consultations held as early as 2012, and in partnership with the Lomaiviti Provincial Council.
She said the plan, informed by science and traditional knowledge, would strengthen the implementation of existing customary management practices surrounding the use of natural resources.
“It is a major milestone given the challenges associated with communications and logistics posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr Jupiter said in a statement from the WCS.
“It also offers new strategies that promote food security, human wellbeing, as well as protecting Ovalau’s unique biodiversity,” she said.
