Text Author: John-Frederick Thye

Ok, Fiji, huuu, where to begin... Fiji is owned by Fijians. Except for a number of limited Free Hold properties, originally owned by European settlers running coconut plantations, most of Fiji is Native Land. That means that this land can not be sold to someone who is not a Native Fijian Islander. The land is held in trust by the Fijian community. The Fijian government is a mix between Western democracy and original Fijian chiefdoms. The above mentioned characteristics make Fiji the Bula-Vinaka (Welcome and Thank You) culture, a country of happy people, big smiles, Cava (a native ceremonial root drink), rolling lush hills, steep mountain peeks intersected by rainbows, breathtaking waterfalls, sugar cane and copra (coconut) plantations, unique coral marine habitat with some of the best diving in the world, white sand beaches shaded by palm trees, and volcanic seaside cliffs.

During our 1 month in Fiji we teamed up with 4 WCS scientists and a representative from the Fijian fisheries to study some of the world's most ecologically diverse coral reefs. WCS has launched an initiative to make Fiji a Marine World Heritage Site. Currently illegal international long-line fishing is severely threatening Fijian fish, birds, and marine mammals. Already the local Humpback whale population has been completely decimated by international whaling ships. For over a decade no Humpbacks were seen in Fiji at all, compared to its earlier numbers in the hundreds. Only recently, within the last 2 years, has a single mother been sighted. She returned to calf, casting a beacon of hope onto the Fijian whale future. Outside help is needed to assist the Fijian government in protecting it's diverse waters, dotted by 2 main islands and 300 smaller ones. Many unique species of soft and hard coral, as well as numerous fish, exist only here in Fiji. Some of Fijian coral reefs show tentative signs of recuperation, after warming ocean water caused by the devastating 1998 El Nino, as well as by the human induced Greenhouse Effect, left 1/6 of the world's coral bleached and dead. Coral reefs provide essential feeding and breeding grounds for reef fish. Without corals the ocean's fish populations will starve, as will the fish we humans depend on for food. That is why coral reef protection and studies are imperative here in Fiji and around the world.

My WildlifeSAIL crew, Kate Hagerman, Daniel Michahelles, Cally Logsdon, and I feel fortunate to have been able to assist WCS's David Olson, Director of WCS South Pacific Program, and Linda Farley, WCS South Pacific Marine Coordinator, in their ambitious grass roots task of collecting base-line data, conducting community work shops, and forging political alliances between the communities and local interest groups, all in preparation for a detailed World Herritage Site proposal. With more help and work Fiji will hopefully join Australia's successful Great Barrier Reef Heritage Site in conserving it's vital marine coral habitats.

In the next few weeks I will send out a newsletter, which will describe our Fiji project and WCS's local mission in more detail. Fair winds from all of us aboard!