Torika leads rehabilitation
TORIKA Liwaliwa, a member of the Naiqadamu Women’s Club, is leading the women’s group in several climate adaptation and mitigation activities on Koro Island.
She is a community-based volunteer for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Fiji under the Learning Environmental Adaptation for Development (LEAD) of CSOs in Fiji Project. In her village, she manages the conservation site breeding indigenous plants to use for coastal rehabilitation as well as the waste management activities for the women’s group.
Naiqadamu was relocated to a new village site after the old village site was wiped out by the storm surges caused by severe Category 5 Tropical Winston in 2016. Through the European Union-funded LEAD Project, Ms Liwaliwa works closely with members of her community to mitigate the risks of climate change and help her village adapt to the changing climate.
“We have a green house set up to breed indigenous plants which we have started planting at the old village site at the seafront. Our old site is now a conservation site, and these plants also protect our village or are useful for coastal rehabilitation,” Ms Liwaliwa said.
“I am grateful to ADRA Fiji and EU for coming up with such project that assist in protecting our environment. Most of us will never forget the experiences from TC Winston and through this project, we are hoping to prevent future disasters from destroying our community and environment.”
Ms Liwaliwa says, she isn’t only breeding coastal plants but also indigenous plants from the interior following requests from her community.
“Some of the farms have been affected by soil erosion so requests have been received to also breed plants here that could be planted in the forest to prevent further erosion.”
Once every month, Torika leads women and children in her village to clean up the coastal areas which are often filled with plastic rubbish washed ashore.
While this waste is often sorted, Ms Liwaliwa uses some of the waste materials for upcycling producing ornaments that can be sold to generate income for the women’s group.
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is transforming byproducts, waste materials — reusing, repairing, repurposing, and upgrading waste material in a creative way.
Apart from the conservation sites and marine protected area, the project also empowered the women’s club with a solar freezer business to general green income for the group.
Their ornaments and handicrafts from the waste products are sold in the villages as jewelries.
Some are transported to Suva to be sold at the Naiqaidamu Stall at the Suva Municipal Council.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) recognises the severity of the negative impact of climate change in the Pacific and together with partners such as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Fiji, the EU implements projects to support climate smart agriculture, green income-generating activities, circular economy, water and sanitation and empowerment of vulnerable communities.
For the past three years on Koro Island, the EU-funded Learning Environmental Adaptation and Development (LEAD) of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Fiji Project has been focused on identifying possible solutions for supporting the transition to an economy that is climate resilient, circular and leads to low carbon emissions.
This has been done by building capacities of both local CSOs, particularly women’s groups, and community members for developing climate smart agricultural techniques, diversified green income generation initiatives, recycling and waste management systems as well as coastal rehabilitation and marine conservation activities.