New project protects Fiji’s Great Sea Reef

Fiji’s Great Sea Reef is the third-largest continuous barrier reef system in the world, stretching more than 275 miles along the west coast of the country’s main islands, Vanua Levu and Viti Levu. It is home to 55% of Fiji’s fish species and 74% of coral species, and acts as a protective natural buffer, reducing wave energy by up to 97% and wave height by 84%. It is also one of a small number of climate resilient “super-reefs” expected to better withstand the impacts of climate change. These reefs are believed to be critical to the survival and recovery of coral reefs globally.

More than 75% of Fijians live along the coast, heavily depend on fisheries for subsistence, and have very strong cultural ties to the Great Sea Reef. Fiji’s economic development is also directly dependent on the health of the Great Sea Reef, its most valuable natural asset. The reef is responsible for 65% of the country’s earnings from exports and 20% of Fiji’s overall GDP.

Yet Fiji’s dependance on natural resources leaves it highly exposed to climate risk: tropical cyclones and floods cost the country more than $500 million annually and coral bleaching events threaten the tourism economy and marine wildlife. Beyond climate change, the Great Sea Reef is also under growing pressure from overfishing, unsustainable coastal development, and sediment eroding into the ocean—smothering corals. Without action, these threats risk pushing the reef past a tipping point, leaving it unable to provide the critical physical protection and livelihood benefits coastal communities depend on.

To support Fiji’s conservation and restoration of the Great Sea Reef over the next 10 years, the Green Climate Fund has approved $35.2 million in funding for the Fiji Coral Reef Resilience Project. An additional $7.4 million in funding from the Government of Fiji, the Government of Australia, and WWF will also support this work, bringing total funds to $42.6 million. The Fiji Coral Reef Resilience Project is Fiji’s largest investment to-date in nature-based approaches to bolster the climate resilience of vulnerable coastal communities.

The Fiji Coral Reef Resilience Project takes an integrated “ridge-to-reef” approach, recognizing that the health of the ocean is connected to the health of the land. Work under the project will include:

• Ecosystem-based adaptation: restoring 2,063 acres (835 hectares) of mangroves and 6,237 acres (2,524 hectares) of riparian forests along Fiji’s watersheds and building nature-based coastal protections—living shorelines—expected to reduce flooded land area by 11% and lower flood exposure for more than 74,000 people.
• Sustainable management: establishing the first 1-year Great Sea Reef management plan across 4 provinces, creating a dedicated Management Unit within the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and incorporating community-based fisheries management plans of 20 customary fishing grounds (qoliqoli) into the Management Unit.
• Locally-led adaptation: a $1.5 million fund providing direct grants to at least 12 community-designed adaptation projects.
• Reef-positive enterprises: helping 50 businesses, including women-led enterprises, become investment-ready and mobilizing an estimated $500,000 in commercial finance.

Over the next 10 years, the project will help avoid $9 million in economic losses from coastal flooding, help secure local livelihoods linked to fisheries by increasing fish biomass by 20%, and help 25 reef-positive businesses access commercial capital. The project is expected to directly benefit 121,358 people, 13% of Fiji’s population.

WWF has worked with communities along the Great Sea Reef for nearly 20 years and will lead this project in close partnership with Fiji’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the Divisional Forest Offices, provincial authorities, and iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian Peoples) institutions. The project complements other Green Climate Fund and climate investments in Fiji, including the Global Fund for Coral Reefs.

The project is supported by cofinance from the Government of Fiji, WWF International, WWF-US and WWF-Australia, with support from the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.