Bai protects marine life

Bai protects marine life

FIJI DAILY POST
21-Jul-2008

WHEN you talk about diving whether it be scuba or free diving, Bai Whippy knows everything about it like the back of his hands.

They say home is where the heart is but for 56-year-old Bai, as he prefers to be called, it’s obviously the sea which has been an integral part of his entire life.

Nestled in the pristine blue waters off Kadavu is a small island called Galoa on which the Whippy family resides.

Bai’s great-grandfather was a boat builder who came from America and settled on Galoa after he built a sailboat for the local chief.

“After building the boat for the chief he was given this piece of land which we are now living on, and then my father also become a boat builder and married a local woman,” he said.

It’s not only diving that Bai is passionate about but everything about the sea and its protection.

He believes in conserving the environment especially protecting the marine life and its habitat.

“I love diving and going down to see the beautiful creatures and be in that environment where you forget everything because everything is silent and very peaceful,” he said.

Bai is Kadavu’s first scuba diver, an honour he first held when he was just 18-years-old and age has not deterred him from this passion.

He said a European couple encouraged him to take up diving lessons which he did and received an open water certificate, then to the advanced stages of rescue certificate, dive master certificate and now a dive instructor.

Whippy loves to show people who love to dive the fish that live in the nearby reefs.

“We have manta rays (large ray fish with wide pectoral fins, a long tail and two fins resembling horns that project from the head) on those reefs,” he said pointing out to the sea.

The manta rays were about 12 feet or less and fed on planktons or a mass of tiny animals and plants floating in the sea or in lakes, usually near the surface and eaten by fish and other water animals.

He said they would come around, summersault, float and at times stay still as the divers watched them.

“We also have sharks with white tips which are about six feet long,” he said. And then there is a place we call the ‘supermarket’ because one could see so many different types of table corals in different colours which is like going to a supermarket, “ he proudly said.

“And then there is the lettuce garden which is also made up of corals.”

Galoa Island is very close to the island of Kadavu and the calm waters that separate it from the main island is frequently used by large boats for shelter whenever there is a storm warning.

It is also a nesting area for sea turtles. It has a vast area of mangroves, which provide a protective breeding habitat for crabs and fish.

Whippy said that in the ‘60s and ‘70s, people would just fish along the coast and only spent a few hours to bring in their catches. But now they have to go out further to catch enough fish for the family.

“We also have a lot of people not from this area who dive at night in our reefs and they are taking everything they find. They take sea cucumbers, sea slugs as well and anything they can sell,” he said.

“Even turtles can hardly be seen now and in the ‘60s, our people used to look for turtle eggs here. They would just take sticks and start poking in the sand and whenever they hit something soft, they will start digging and then the eggs would be there.

“But now we realize how important those eggs are and also the importance of the reefs so we have stopped. Because I take tourists and friends to see the corals and fish I know the importance of conservation.

In the village when we sit around a bowl of kava I would tell them the importance of corals and creatures in the ocean.”

He also advises them on the importance of watching where they place their anchors when
out fishing and use of “duva” or poisonous plants.

However, he said the best way of conservation is the use of “moka” which is a traditional fishing method in which stone walls are placed around a reef which is usually near the foreshore. At low tide the fish are trapped inside that is when the bigger fish will be taken out and the smaller ones left in. For bigger functions used the “yavi rau” or the fish drive in which only leaves and vines are used as nets and only big fish are caught.

He said people should always be reminded on the proper methods of catching fish.

The dumping of plastic bags into the sea also used to be a problem in the village but now each tribe has its own pits in which they place their rubbish.

“We used to use paper bags before and then the plastic bags were brought in but I think the best one was the use of woven coconut baskets usually used by our mothers to carry food,” said Whippy.

Mangroves is also important to people of Galoa because they believe that is the reason they have so many mud crabs and fish.

“We do not cut them for firewood but when the old bakery was working many years ago they used to cut mangroves for its firewood,” he said.

“When we used to sell copra we also used mangroves for firewood because of its heat. The roots of mangroves are also used as firewood and the trunk as dye for tapa.”

Whippy concludes that children have to be taught by parents on the importance of conservation and not to be idle.

He said when children wake up in the morning they should do a chore first before breakfast and learn to be responsible especially on the dumping of rubbish.

“That is what I teach my children and I was also taught that by my parents. The turaganikoro or the village headman should be the first one up in the morning and see that the village is always clean.”

He also emphasised that parents should be role models for their children and see that they have healthy habits and conserve.

Bai also has a boarding house on his property which could house 12 people and says he is lucky that he has a group that comes in every year from Europe, but he also welcomes locals who want to visit his home.

This way Bai believes people could learn to appreciate the wonders of the ‘underworld’ and importance of protecting our marine environment.



Alumeci Nakeke

Fiji Daily Post: News Features - NAKEKE - Bai protects marine life

WWF South Pacific | Villagers take lead in financing their I qoloqoli in Macuata, Fiji

- By Ashwini Prabha

The people of the qoliqoli (fishing grounds) of the vanua Nabekavu, Dreketi, Macuata, Sasa and Mali have, in the past 2 years, implemented set actions for the use of their I qoliqoli.

They have successfully set aside 9 areas, totaling to 117 kms2 within the I qoliqoli as tabus(protected areas), for the purpose of restocking the I qoliqoli. Already, the people of the I qoliqoli are talking about larger fishes caught near shore as in the past and different types that had not been seen in the recent years have begun to come back.

“This week we went out fishing everyday and came back with a full catch compared to few years ago when we would go out one day and have a good catch and the next three to four days we would hardly catch anything. These changes have also attracted increasing illegal fishers into the I qoliqoli and into the 'tabu' (protected areas) areas.”

- Emosi Baya, one of the I qoliqoli committee members from Nakawaga, Mali Island.

“These changes have also increasingly attracted illegal fishers into the I qoliqoli and into the tabu areas,”

said Baya.

Currently WWF Fiji and partners are working with the Macuata communities by assisting in the development and implementation of resource management plan, educating and training of community members to undertake activities outlined in their management plans, training fish wardens and building community capacity (through household financial literacy training, community messaging, community biological and socio-economic surveyors etc).

With WWFs support to come to an end in three years, there is a commitment by WWF to assist the qoliqoli committee to secure funding with which the qoliqoli communities will continue to manage their I qoliqoli’s.

Long term self financing of Marine Protected Areas

A 12 month Fund Raising Plan (May 2007 to June 2008), with 4 activities, targeting FJD100,000, has been developed to generate funding for the management of the qoliqoli, spearheaded by the Qoliqoli Committee of the Vanua Nabekavu, Tikina Dreketi, Macuata, Sasa & Mali.

“A review of the 2004 management plan showed that the Qoliqoli committee lacked dedicated funds or a plan to seek funds for the implementation of this plan which includes the actions by fish wardens in stemming illegal fishing.”

- Sanivalati Navuku, Project officers, WWF Fiji Programme

The first fundraising event is the upcoming Great Sea Reefs (GSR) Sevens Rugby Tournament, in November (9th to 10th) at the Subrail Park, in Labasa. The tournament targets to raise $15,000.00.

Ten top national teams will be invited to participate, with part of their travel and accommodation costs supported by the Qoliqoli Committee through sponsorship.

A total of 56 teams are expected to participate, including boys teams of 17, 16, 15, 12, 9. The inclusion of the boys team is expected to pull in parents and families to travel to the games venue in Labasa.

Mr. Baya who is involved in the fundraiser said,

“the GSR sevens is not just to raise money but will help qoliqoli owners to come together to work towards the protection of their natural resources. Working to manage our qoliqoli has brought many of us together, from the inland villages and coastal villages for the first time. Some of us are visiting some qoliqoli villages for the first time as well.”

“When WWF started this project (MPA) in 2004, I was the only representative from the island of Mali. Today the number of representatives from Mali and other villagers has increased. These efforts are helping re-establish our traditional links.”

he said.

Other fundraising activities by the Qoliqoli committee includes- Honorary Qoliqoli Owners by Invitation, targeting $9,000.00, Connecting qoliqoli members living outside of Fiji (3), targeting $10,000.00 and Village based fund raising & dinner by invitation, targeting $42,000.00.

“Effort is being made to increase the communities’ involvement and participation in the management of their resources. The communities need to take ownership in protecting their natural resources starting with MPA projects.”

- Sanivalati Navuku, Project officer, WWF Fiji.

Fiji’s precious marine ecosystem is under attack from over fishing, unsustainable and destructive harvesting of live coral and exotic fish for aquariums, and increasing levels of pollution. Climate change is also playing its part in the degradation of the marine environment as warmer sea water.

In November 2005, seven chiefs of the province of Macuata launched the first of the country’s networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on the Great Sea Reef, the third largest barrier reef in the world. This came about as a result of the Great Sea Reef survey, a first in the area, conducted in 2004 with the support of WWF and partners, which highlighted its unique biodiversity.

WWF has witnessed the benefits of MPAs to biodiversity and marine resources and the people who rely on them around the world. Hence it is supporting the Government and the people of Fiji in the development and implementation of its commitment to have 30%of the country’s EEZ under MPAs by 2020. Together with FLMMA and other key organisations, WWF is facilitating policy dialogue, scientific research, community capacity building and financing.

Source: WWF Fiji

Tabu waters: Protecting Fiji's Great Sea Reef

Dakuwaqa , the Polynesian shark god, would have heard the ruckus coming from the small village of Naduri in a verdant corner of the Fijian archipelago on the morning of a new beginning.

Ancient fishing chants, many of which hadn't been performed in more than 50 years, and a lavish feast of local delicacies — clams, seaweeds, taro leaves, mangoes, guavas, coconuts and pineapples — were prepared over days for villagers and visitors alike. A pig was roasted, graceful seasea fan dances and fierce spear dances enacted, gifts bestowed, kava drunk, and a whale's tooth passed around for good luck.

All this for the opening of the country's first marine protected area? Yes. That's what a waitui tabu (prohibited zone) is these days, a cause for celebration, especially when it will protect parts of Fiji's Great Sea Reef — the world's third largest barrier reef and home to a staggering array of life, some still unknown to science.

Fiji is leading the pack of coastal nations by committing to the establishment of a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2020. The area, covering 30 per cent of its territorial waters or 39 million hectares, will be the largest system of underwater sanctuaries in the world.

“Protecting the reef will ensure that one of our greatest assets remains intact and continues to be an important part of the traditions, culture and livelihoods of the people of Fiji,” said Etika Rupeni of WWF's South Pacific Office in Fiji. “Marine protected areas the world over are proving to be one of the most effective ways for coastal dwellers to safeguard their dwindling food supplies and preserve precious biodiversity.”

Damsel in distress
Captain James Cook, the 18th century British explorer who mapped the South Pacific, including Fiji, is often referred to as the founder of modern oceanography. Among his many discoveries was a linguistic one, the term “taboo” (or “tabu”) — a word that has traveled as widely as Cook himself and is now used throughout the English-speaking world. It still retains, however, its meaning in Polynesia — a prohibition imposed by social custom.

Waitui tabusI, or prohibited fishing zones, have been set aside in Fiji's Great Sea Reef to conserve the most diverse amount of species and habitats as possible. Covering more than 200,000km2, the reef — locally known as Cakaulevu — is home to thousands of marine species, including marine turtles, dolphins, sharks, and 43 new hard coral species. The reef is also an important fishing ground for local communities.

“If you see this place, you would consider yourself the luckiest person on Earth,” said marine biologist Aaron Jenkins, who dives regularly in the Great Sea Reef and is still awed by its extraordinary diversity of life. “The colours, the fish and coral, and most of all, what we still don't know about it, are amazing.”

During a 12-day survey of the reef undertaken by WWF and its partners at the end of 2004, the team found a species of damsel fish (Pomacentrus sp.) previously unknown to science, as well as 12 threatened species, including 10 species of fish, green turtles and spinner dolphins. The survey also identified significant threats to the Great Sea Reef, such as overfishing and poaching by illegal fishers, poison fishing, sand dredging, and other development activities.

In efforts to protect the fragile environment, local village chiefs in Fiji have launched the first of the reef's network of marine protected areas.

“It is important to look at a wider scale of management by capturing the interactions between a range of sites, protecting migratory corridors of more mobile species and maintaining ecological processes,” said Jenkins, the survey's chief scientist.

“Marine protected areas are crucial. They are about preserving the integrity of the wider marine environment across connected systems.”

Protecting tabu areas
In a country where the abiding principle of veisolisoli and kerekere (give and take) is woven into the fabric of society, the concept of marine stewardship is considered common sense. But, years of overfishing, pollution, and destructive harvesting of live coral and exotic fish have eroded Fiji's underwater paradise.

This is in addition to the plundering of Fiji's genetic resources where important plant and marine species are being ripped out of the ground and sea for the highly profitable cosmetic, pharmaceutical, agriculture and biotechnology industries — often without the consent of local resource owners.

Efforts, however, are being made to reign in the free-for-all.

The creation of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) are empowering coastal communities to take matters into their own hands. The Fiji LMMA drives community-based marine conservation by working closely with 40 traditional fishing grounds (qoliqoli). To date, there are 109 LMMA sites in Fiji, covering about 15 per cent of the country's coastal areas. Witnessing the positive impacts LMMAs are having on local livelihoods, more and more communities are clamoring to establish similar programmes.

The benefits of combining traditional and scientific knowledge and methods can be seen in one of the originating communities of this quiet revolution. The residents of Ucunivanua in Fiji's Verata district, for example, can attest to the benefits of such locally managed areas. Lamenting the decline in the numbers of kaikoso (ark clams) — a key source of food and a marketable commodity — the community decided to take action by reviving tabu practices to protect breeding areas. As a result, clam populations have increased 300 per cent annually in these areas, and by 200 per cent in spillover areas. Incomes over three years have risen by 35 per cent.

“The fish in my protected area are so tame when you dive down to count them they wink at you,” said one local Fijian fisherman jokingly.

“The underwater residents of my protected area are so happy that they practically flop themselves into the boat, said another.”

Replenishing waters for future generations
A notable initiative from Verata is a bio-prospecting arrangement with a pharmaceutical company which has seen US$30,000 put into a trust fund to sustain local conservation work. Another community is managing its coral reefs and generating income by sustainably collecting “live rock” (dead coral or rock covered with algae that is used in aquariums to form a reef base for tropical fish) for the marine aquarium trade.

The Verata initiative and other projects have since merged to share information and resources in a Fiji-wide network of community representatives and NGOs, of which WWF was a founding member.

“The network story is truly an outstanding one, demonstrating how local communities, NGOs and the government can work together to improve livelihoods and protect one's natural heritage, and indeed, a nation,” said WWF International President Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who presented the government of Fiji and local communities with WWF's Conservation Leadership Award.

“As a small island state we are equipped with a special sensitivity that makes us keenly aware of environmental changes,” added Fiji's Fisheries Minister Konisi Tabu Yabaki. “We, just like our forefathers, know that if we do not maintain the health of our environment, our way of life will be threatened. Waitui tabu simply makes sense.”

WWF is working in the world's most sensitive and biologically diverse regions to help protect ocean habitat and support commercial fisheries. The global conservation organization is establishing individual marine protected areas and ensuring that they are supported by local people so that they can be managed effectively. Each park fits into a network of protected areas that represents the diversity of habitats within a given marine ecological region.

“The community is grateful for the support,” said Chief Ratu Aisea Katonivere of Macuata Province. “We hope it will begin the journey to bring back the richness of these once plentiful waters, not only for ourselves, but also for our children.”

Source: WWF

NAI'A DIVERS PIONEER THE WORLD'S LARGEST MPA

The adventurous urge of three humble NAI'A passengers initiated and inspired what is now the world's largest marine protected area. Thanks to the generous funding and tireless participation of Arizona's Kandy Kendall, Iowa's Bruce Thayer and California's Mary Jane Adams, NAI'A's first exploratory diving survey to Kiribati's Phoenix Islands archipelago in 2000 led to the sensational declaration last January of 410,500 square kilometers of conservation boundary around them– that's larger than Australia's Great Barrier Reef. We are more thrilled and grateful to these three individuals than words can properly express.

Conservation catalysts - Kandy Kendall and Bruce Thayer.

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, or PIPA as it is commonly known, has grabbed mainstream media headlines all year in a brilliant coup for global marine protection boldly staged by one of the smallest, most threatened nations on the planet: The Republic of Kiribati. The details of the MPA are presented at www.phoenixislands.org

You may have already heard about the tenacious pursuit of the MPA by New England Aquarium's Dr Greg Stone and his team of scientists, the crucial endowment deal closed by Conservation International and the awarded environmental foresight of Kiribati President, Honorable Anote Tong. Phoenix's eight atolls and surrounding deep ocean are highlighted by National Geographic and nominated for World Heritage status. Probably you have read in NAI'A newsletters about our many expeditions there since 1997, first with TIGHAR looking for Amelia Earhart's remains, and then with divers and biologists completing the first underwater surveys. NAI'A is the only vessel with an intimate knowledge of this remarkable but remote coral archipelago.

But what most people don't know is that a handful of the most dedicated NAI'A divers started the whole PIPA ball rolling. Without their exploratory vision and trust in us, the Phoenix Islands would still be unheard of and exploited. Thank you, Kandy, Bruce and Mary Jane. You genuinely embody the famous words of anthropologist, Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

It began almost accidentally when Rob and Cat briefly glimpsed the overwhelmingly abundant fishlife of Nikumaroro while setting moorings during NAI'A's first Amelia Earhart search expedition with TIGHAR. The experience kept them awake at night for a couple of years until our friend and many-time NAI'A guest Kandy Kendall said,

I want to do something new and brave with NAI'A. Is there anywhere left to truly explore?

Kandy's substantial start-up funding of our goal to put marine scientists and experienced sport divers together to survey under the Phoenix Islands made our first 21-day excursion possible. Bruce Thayer and Mary Jane Adams leapt at the opportunity too, sponsoring and assisting the final three expert biologists of the survey team. Then Dr Craig Cook brought not only his diving knowledge but also his emergency medical skills to the party of explorers. And finally, Australian cameraman, Alex Morrison, donated his time and steady film-eye to document the expedition topside.

Watch the short film made about the PIPA project or read the Skin Diver magazine feature about the journey, Sharks on Prozac, Coral on Steriods.

Mary Jane summed up Phoenix 2000 beautifully:

It was an unforgettable experience and a major highlight of my 25 years of diving. When I signed up for the project, I hoped that we would discover at least a few good dive sites. The Phoenix Islands expedition exceeded my most optimistic expectations. Diving with New England Aquarium biologists greatly enriched my understanding of tropical reefs and their inhabitants. If I ever get this kind opportunity again I will grab it.

Mary Jane also joined NAI'A as reef invertebrate researcher for the 2002 Primal Ocean Project survey led this time by the now deeply committed New England Aquarium and Conservation International scientists and covered in National Geographic. Dr Greg Stone seized the baton of protection for Phoenix and ran with it. His energy, diplomacy and colleagues quickly transformed that hopeful NAI'A discovery tour into a ground-breaking global conservation vision which culminated in the 2006 declaration of PIPA and this year's expansion of the preservation zone to be the world's largest. It grew beyond our wildest dreams, as Bruce Thayer eloquently expresses.

It's been a long road? But my role in Phoenix is turning out to be one of the absolute high points of my life; a singular something that will be left behind when I've burped my final bubble.

We hope to do it all again in Central Fiji/Lomaiviti where, just as NAI'A divers discovered in Phoenix, something extraordinary is going on under the surface.