Working with Conservationists
WWF works with conservation managers to increase the resilience of Pacific Island ecosystems against the impacts of climate change.
Working in partnership with the WWF Marine Conservation programme, our team undertakes climate change monitoring and impacts assessments, such as coral reef monitoring on Kabara, Fiji.
Coral Monitoring
In order to assess the extent of coral bleaching in Kabara, and to enable communities to better understand their marine environments, WWF South Pacific, in partnership with WWF Indonesia's Friends of the Reef Programme, has begun to train community memmbers in coral monitoring techniques.
The Fiji Friends of the Reef team, led by Monifa Fiu, conducted community training and site surveys for two marine environments in Kabara in June of this year. The surveys extend the original baseline surveys from October 2004. This survey was to determine the extent on coral bleaching on the island and its impacts on the islands fisheries.
» Read more about our work on protecting the reefs of Kabara
» Read our Marine Officer's latest account on Kabara island
Restoring Mangroves
In another project, WWF South Pacific is working with the government of Fiji and other stakeholders ro restore mangroves in a bid to increase the resilience of coral reefs to climate change. Mangroves provide some protection to corals by filtering out harmful UV radiation from the water column, a contributing factor to coral bleaching.