Community plants mangroves
FACED with the reality of rising sea levels, the people of Navutu in Lautoka have taken it upon themselves to protect their shoreline by planting hundreds of mangrove seedlings.
The community of more than 150 households has been planting mangroves from late last year to stop coastal erosion, which has been threatening their homes since the late 1960s.
Settlement turaga ni koro Tomasi Seru said large swells had slowly eaten away most of their coastlines with some families relocating to higher grounds as a result.
“We are a very poor community and we’re facing this very real threat of climate change,” he said.
“One day our youths will not be able to tell where their elders lived because it will be under water.
“What we are trying to do here is delay that process by planting mangroves.
“If we don’t do something now, our children’s future will be very bleak.”
He said youths from the settlement had been planting mangroves in vulnerable areas along the shoreline.
“There are parts of Navutu where the tide will come right into our yards. We are concentrating on these areas first.”
Isaia Tanituinaikele’s home was one of the first to relocate in 1969.
The 85-year-old said seven houses had to move when seawater started to seep into homes in the early 1970s.
“If we didn’t move our home would have been gone by now,” he said.
“Building a barrier will be the only way to protect our homes because every year the tides are getting bigger and waves are stronger, taking more than just sand away from our lands.”