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WWF Fiji Expedition Diary
Lara Hansen, senior scientist - Cimate Change
Lara Hansen, senior scientist - climate change, traveled to Fiji in March 2007. With several local and American colleagues and a crew from National Public Radio, Lara and her team visited several coral reefs and mangrove forests to assess the current effects of climate change and look for ways to help coastal ecosystems and communities respond to the growing concerns prompted by global warming.
Join Lara and her team on a journey to one of the world's most beautiful coral reefs. Learn how WWF is studying this environment and its role as an indicator of the effects of climate change.
Heading to Fiji | Mangroves you say? | Saturday, February 24 - Here at Last! | Sunday, February 25th | Monday, February 26th | Tuesday, February 27th - Let the Work Begin | Wednesday, February 28th | Thursday, March 1st | Friday, March 2nd | Saturday, March 3rd
Saturday, February 24 - Here at Last!
We arrive in Nadi and the air smells like the tropics, warm and heavy with scent. Customs is easy, and our driver greets us on the other side. On the drive to the resort, I ask where he's from. Fijians will respond to the question by telling you the village or region from which their family originates. Most land in Fiji is still communally owned by villages, so your "village of origin" determines what land you are part owner of. The communal ownership of land means that conservation works differently here; to conserve natural resources, you need to get whole villages to buy in.
The control of coastal resources is currently in flux. The recent coup was
apparently motivated in part by this issue. While villages control fishing rights, the government actually owns everything from the high tide line down. This can lead to conflict between villagers who use coastal resources for subsistence and other people who'd rather use them to make money. As we continue our discussion, we pass a golf course near the resort, built for the new high-end hotel compound going in nearby. A healthy, thriving coral reef was covered over to create the land on which the new compound sits.
posted by World Wildlife Fund # 1:15 PM
Heading to Fiji | Mangroves you say? | Saturday, February 24 - Here at Last! | Sunday, February 25th | Monday, February 26th | Tuesday, February 27th - Let the Work Begin | Wednesday, February 28th | Thursday, March 1st | Friday, March 2nd | Saturday, March 3rd
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