The Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park has a Management Plan that was launched in 2017 and sets out the vision and strategies for sustainably managing Vatu Island, the surrounding customary fishing grounds known locally as i qoliqoli Cokovata Nakorotubu, and adjacent deeper waters.
The Park was set up through a traditional tabu through a partnership between local communities and local tourism partners.
One of the main objectives of the Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park is to support the health of adjacent fishing grounds.
To do this, 80% of the Park has been set up as a no-fishing area in the hope that there will be a spillover of excess fish from the closed areas, into adjacent fishing grounds that are used by local communities and commercial fishers.
However, that can only happen if people know about the Park and comply with the rules set out in the Management Plan.
Fishers’ awareness workshops
The Management Committee hosted two fishers’ awareness workshop in Ra and Tailevu Provinces in July and August, with the support of the Ministry of Fisheries. The fishers learnt about the history of the Park and why it was set up and how this large fully protected areas acts as a “fish bank” that can spill over into fishing grounds that fishers use.
Sirilo Dulunaqio who has served on the Management Committee and works for the Wildlife Conservation Society explains. “Inshore fisheries have declined as a result of overfishing and previous damage from severe tropical cyclones. The Park offers the opportunity to improve and sustain fisheries so that there is more fish for the future.”
The Management Committee has also been working closely with the Ministry of Fisheries to ensure all commercial fishing licences have maps showing the position and coordinates of the Park.
The fisher workshops were facilitated by the Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park Management Committee with technical support from the Ra Provincial Office and the Wildlife Conservation Society, through funding from the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States through the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme.
About BIOPAMA
The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme aims to improve the long-term conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, in protected areas and surrounding communities. It is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States financed by the European Union’s 11th European Development Fund (EDF), jointly implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC). Building on the first five years of activities financed by the 10th EDF (2012-2017), BIOPAMA’s second phase provides tools for data and information management, services for improving the knowledge and capacity for protected area planning and decision making, and funding opportunities for specifi.c site-based actions. www.biopama.org