Verata Tikina, Fiji

The University of the South Pacific (USP) Government of Fiji
South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment (SPACHEE)

Declining marine resources is of concern to the inhabitants of eight villages of Verata Tikina County on the eastern tip of the main island of Fiji, who saw their livelihood threatened. Consequently, the University of South Pacific (USP) sent a project proposal to the US-funded Biodiversity Conservation Network that supports enterprise-based approaches to biodiversity conservation. The project received funding and embarked on activities using participatory techniques with the help of a local NGO, “SPACHEE”, which was assisted by the Fijian Affairs and Fisheries Departments. USP scientists together with the Environment Department developed a draft “biodiversity access and benefit sharing policy”. Verata also developed a marine resource plan, and training in biological and socioeconomic monitoring was carried out in various communities.

• Coastal and marine resources (Chapter IV of the Barbados Programme of Action)
• Biodiversity resources (Chapter IX of the BPoA)
• National institutions and administrative capacity (Chapter X of the BPoA)
• Human resource development (Chapter XIV of the BPoA)

• Verata developed a marine management plan to address threats they had identified in their marine biodiversity such as over-harvesting, in which they stopped issuing commercial fishing licenses to outsiders and declared a taboo (no-take) area for an Anadara species clam especially important to them.
• Community members conducted baseline socioeconomic and biological monitoring. By the end of the project, clam population increased by ten times in the taboo area and 200% in nearby areas.
• Fiji is among the first governments to develop a biodiversity access and benefit-sharing policy.
• A successful bioprospecting enterprise is established that has provided licensing fees of $US 30,000 to a Trust Fund established by the community.
• Based on the results of this project, Verata people have now declared 9 taboo areas covering 5 marine species, and consequently several other areas in Fiji are at various stages of emulating the Verata model.
• Verata villagers have delivered results of their project at regional and international meetings and are acting as consultants in the replication effort.

• Community members now have considerable knowledge about biodiversity, which should be elicited and utilized in conservation projects.
• Villagers’ capacity to be trained to perform “scientific” monitoring exercises should not be underestimated.
• The participatory approach enhances the chance of successful engagement of community members in a project.
• It is critical to pace the project at a speed appropriate for the community and not outside forces.
• The Pacific Island system of communal tenurial control enhances
their interest in the sustainability of their resources and increases the chance for successful interventions.
• The Fisheries Department of Government has shown interest in adapting participatory techniques in their work so that they can develop policies based on lessons learned from these community-managed projects.

Prof. Bill Aalbersberg
Alifereti Tawake
Institute of Applied Sciences
University of the South Pacific
Suva, Fiji
Tel.: (679) 312952
Fax: (679) 300373
E-mail: Aalbersberg@usp.ac.fj
E-mail: Alifereti_T@yahoo.com