Votua Village Biodiversity Studies and Community Education, Fiji

Melanie Sorenson, Education Interpretive Naturalist at the Minnesota Zoo, spent four weeks in Fiji in January 2007 working with Eco-Corps, a local conservation group, assisting in the development of a snorkeling trail through the village marine protected area, and a reef walk tour. She also worked with local villagers helping record flora and fauna and developed a training book for local guides and tourists and interpretive graphics, pamphlets, and field sheets for these projects.

Eco-Corps is a grass-roots level conservation effort based in Votua Village on the southwest coast of Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu. Votua consists of approximately 40 families, dependent on subsistence fishing and farming for their livelihood. Eco-Corps mission is to conserve Fiji’s natural and cultural resources through research, education, and assisting the development of sustainable livelihood opportunities in local communities. This program provides information, and training to assist communities in developing and implementing resource management plans and sustainable economic opportunities. The project includes four conservation areas:

Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity Survey Votuas’ coral reefs and forests support an incredible diversity of fauna and flora. Eco-Corps is working with local and international scientists to document and describe the diversity of marine and terrestrial fauna and flora around Votua, some of it endemic to Fiji, and some of it undoubtedly new to science.
Development of Underwater Park To promote non-extractive economic use of village marine resources, Eco-Corps is creating an underwater park and snorkeling trail in Votua. This entails designing the park trails, creating educational materials to accompany them, and training villagers to operate this eco-attraction.
Community Education and Capacity Building Eco-Corps is organizing and conducting educational programs for the people of Votua and surrounding villages to promote awareness of conservation/development issues and the ecology/natural history of local fauna. Additional programs will train villagers to conduct reef-monitoring and operate local tourist attractions.
Wastewater Project The wetland project is seeking to find a low-tech, easy maintenance, effective solution for wastewater management for Fijian villages. Nutrient loading on the reef has been a major problem. Resorts have begun upgrading their systems, however villages are in need of more cost-effective viable solutions.

The Minnesota Zoo’s Ulysses S. Seal Conservation Grant Program provided Melanie with $1,000 to cover some of her travel and lodging costs as well as purchase supplies for the interpretive graphics and pamphlets for the eco-tours.