Fiji Sun’s Climate Watch series highlights crisis
The biggest crisis of our time, climate change is consistently covered in our pages. The Climate Watch initiative is another successful project by the Fiji Sun newspaper.
Where possible, our climate journalist Kelera Sovasiga heads out to areas that are heavily experiencing the damages of climate change to hear and tell their story of survival.
The article ‘Double Blow for Tukuraki Villages’ highlighted the land dispute faced between the landowners and the villages who occupied the land that was gifted to them by Yalimarawa clan from Nalotawa Village. With back-and-forth discussions between landowners, the article stirred up a call for proper consultations with landowners.
“The article was a lesson for stakeholders to be more mindful of future issues of land ownership when considering relocations programmes,” said Managing editor digital and readership development Rosi Doviverata.
Mrs Doviverata said: “The Climate Watch weekly column started after two of our West journalists, Nicolette Chambers and Mereleki Nai attended an Earth Journalism Network Internews supported Environmental Training of Trainers workshop in Novermber, 2020.
“They were completely inspired by the weeklong session that they suggested that a weekly column should be dedicated to the many environmental challenges that we face daily.
“The column started in December last year and we have since opened up the column to a regular contributor, Jason Tutani, the Sigatoka Sand Dunes Park Manager,” she said.
She said the issues highlighted by climate watch ranges from sea level rise, sea inundation, relocation and food security to name a few.
Climate Watch together with investigative project Shine a Light, are a commitment by the Fiji Sun newspaper to keep our readers informed on critical issues.