Climate Warriors to the Rescue
Climate warriors from Naganivatu Village in Naitasiri, travelled down the Rewa River on November 2, 2017 on their home-made rafts. The rafts, made from bamboo and put together by the villagers of Naganivatu, joined youth groups from Rewa to clean up the Rewa River – in support of the COP23 meeting in Bonn, Germany, which is presided by our Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama. Today, the Naitasiri villagers will use their bamboo rafts to take part in a
bilibili race as part of the Rewa Festival activities.
Achallenge the people of Rewa face in terms of climate change is food security, the Gone Marama na Roko Tui Dreketi Ro Teimumu Kepa said at Syria Park yesterday during the opening of the Rewa Festival. “This is (also) undermined by the pollution of the river upstream from Rewa,” Ro Teimumu said.
She said this has adversely affected the livelihood of a large portion of the population of Rewa who depend on the river for sustenance.
She said the integrity of the food security was one of the reasons they needed to protect the nursery of the scalloped hammerhead sharks in the Rewa River.
“We need to play our part in preserving our environment. Reach out to the ministries that are present with us today and ask them to assist you to develop ways to develop ways to adapt to climate change,” she said.
In support of the COP23 in Bonn, Germany the three-day Rewa Festival facilititated awareness programmes on climate change and effect on people.
Ro Teimumu said it was important to remember that while Prime Minister Voreqe Bainiarama was in Bonn, people must be reminded that climate change was real. She said yesterday marked the dawn of a new era for Rewa.
“I am happy to announce that we are one step closer to that goal, with the registration of our own non-Government Organisation (NGO), Rewa Care,” she said. “Rewa Care is a more efficient way to address the many socio-economic issues that we face in the delta.” She said this was now the same drive that led them to believe that they can go one step further to include the bilibili (bamboo raft) race competition.
The Rewa Festival continues today with the heats of the bilibili race and the finals tomorrow.