Articulating sustainable development in Gau Island

Funds have been received from the GEF Small Grants to continue community training workshops and activities on Sustainable Development of Islands. At the moment, the focus has been on habitat rehabilitation. The villagers are encouraged to look after their ecological footprints and are at present involved in a competition for the "Best and Most Beautiful Village in Gau." The ultimate aim is to make Gau Island a model for sustainable rural development in Fiji and the Pacific Islands.

Each of the 18 villages now has a community-based marine protected area that they have declared to spearhead the recovery of their fishing areas.

Workshops are planned for all of the 18 villages to explain the Project and why the people need to support this initiative. This will better prepare them for the difficulties expected in the future. In many of the activities, the Mauritius Strategies for Sustainable Development in SIDS is being shared with the people.

Research and development on sustainable rural development in Gau is on-going. Regular meetings and activities such as the biological survey of the coastal areas is continuing with the able support of Frontier Fiji and other interested parties such as Planetary Coral Reef Foundation.

The social and economic research is also on-going as shown in the many publications on the work in Gau Island. Below are a few of these publications, highlighted are those which can be freely downloaded from ReefBase Pacific. [Note: ReefBase Pacific requires first-time users to freely register an account before downloading available publications]

Please see the 'Publications' section for the complete listing of IOI-Pacific Islands reports.

• Addressing human factors in fisheries development and regulatory processes in Fiji : the Mositi Vanuaso experience
• Overcoming poverty in Pacific Islands coastal communities with resource conservation and alternative sources of livelihood and income
• Partnership and the quest for effective community-based resource management: the Mositi Vanuaso project, Gau, Fiji
• Caring for the environment and mitigating natural extreme events in Vanuaso Tikina, Gau Island, Fiji: a self-help community initiative