Dive Destination Rainbow Reef: Fiji Tourism and Community partners in marine conservation

by Lisa Benckhuysen / SV Harlequin 28 Sep 2019 03:53 UTC

Next door to Rainbow Reef, one of Fiji's most spectacular dive destinations, there is a special blend of business, community, education, and conservation centering on Jone Waitaiti and Marina Walser, owners of Dive Academy Fiji.

In Fiji, local clans have authority over the "qoliqoli" or traditional fishing grounds. Tourism operators and local leaders can create Marine Protection Areas (MPAs) in order to protect coral reefs and bolster fish stocks, thus improving the future for marine tourism and traditional subsistence fishing. While cruising Fiji for six months on our 37 foot sailboat, Harlequin, I found a story worth telling in the conception and startup of a small boutique dive resort and a business/community partnership responsible for a new marine protected area.

July 22, 2019

Heavy rain shows as oblique white slashes in the feeble light of my torch as we move over the invisible reef. Water splashes into the dinghy with every wave. I realize that this is perhaps not an ideal evening activity but a light blossoms in the inky blackness and guides us between the jagged rocks and safely to the beach. After securing our inflatable tender, we follow our guide through the dripping trees toward the welcome light of the bure. It rains so rarely here that we neglected to check the weather forecast. Cruisers enjoying the delights of Fiji, we are anchored at Viani Bay off the famous Somosomo Strait and Rainbow Reef, and we have booked a dinner tonight at the Dive Academy Fiji restaurant.

Peeling off as much soaked clothing as leaves us still decent, we relax into the rustic elegance of the bure. Open to the night on one side, the rough planked walls are bright with bold lizard prints by Fred Caine while fragrant bouquets of frangipani and hibiscus grace the dark hardwood table and bar. Books on reef fish, corals, marine invertebrates and mammals share a long shelf with cookbooks in several languages. It feels like a tasteful living space but the geckos on the high ceiling vy for space next to the lights and remind us that we are here for a good meal.

Our guide introduces himself as Jone and opens a bottle of wine to share with us. We learn that he is one of the owners of the resort, returned from overseas only a couple of hours ago. His business partner, Marina, has a dental emergency and has gone by launch to Savusavu to find a dentist. I will have a chance to speak with her when she returns in four days time. As the rain drums on the high tin roof, we hear about the challenges and rewards of running a small resort in this remote location and my interest is piqued by Jone's clear passion for marine conservation, education, coral nurseries, and creating a mutually beneficial relationship with the community. Although he is clearly struggling to stay awake, I ask him for an interview. "Sure," he laughs, "tomorrow. Fiji time!"

Building a business

Jone Waitaiti was raised on Taveuni, Fiji's "garden island". He attended the Fiji School of Hospitality and Tourism in Suva for a Trade Certificate in Craft Cookery but, "after three years in the kitchen," he laughs, " I knew I didn't belong there. So I came here, to Viani Bay, and asked Roland Schenkel of Dolphin Bay Diving for a dive course. One day the captain of the boat said to me, ' There is a course starting tomorrow. You can join.' Dolphin Bay gave me four years of dive training and scholarship."

Once he had PADI certification, Jone worked in several resorts around Fiji, including Robinson Crusoe Island, Matava on Kadavu, and Jean-Michel Cousteau's on Vanua Levu. A trip to Europe gave him the opportunity to do some coldwater lake diving and even ice diving. He returned to Europe again, this time working for seven years in a dive shop in Frankfurt. He certified as a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Drysuit Instructor and Freediving Instructor.

All the while, Waitaiti dreamed of returning to Taveuni and opening a small dive resort. The island is blessed with an ideal climate and proximity to the spectacular dive sites of Rainbow Reef in Somosomo Strait where there is abundant marine life including sea turtles, dolphins and manta rays. There are several dive resorts there already and Jone knew just where to start his own business. He was considering affiliation with an international chain but at this point Marina Walser enters the story.

A veteran of corporate sales and marketing, Marina Walser radiates creative drive and organization. As a chief marketing officer, her clients included large European investment banks and software companies. Trilingual, she travelled regularly between Frankfurt, London, Barcelona, Milan and New York. "I was always driving new initiatives and startup projects," she explains, " but eventually I took a sabbatical to find a new direction for myself."

She learned to scuba dive, bought a motorcycle and recognized her need to "pursue meaning and... peace," on a personal level. "Diving allows me to slow down and enjoy every moment rather than focussing on achieving the next business goal." After a sojourn in Indonesia, she knew she wanted to relocate to the tropics for diving, and give back to the environment and the community through conservation and education.

Marina's skill set and goals dovetailed with Jone's and, shortly after meeting in Frankfurt, the two formed a business partnership. Marina invested in dive equipment to outfit a small operation and Jone worked on getting a business licence and location. They packed their goods into a container and shipped it off to Fiji.

February of 2016 saw them in Taveuni ready to build their dream. Plans to develop a property at the south end of the island didn't work out, so Jone's sister, Risi and her husband, Apex, suggested a site across the Somosomo Strait, in Viani Bay. The property next to Ucunivatu Primary School belonged to Jerry Fischer. Fischer's grandfather reportedly traded a boat for the pristine piece of beachfront! Jone secured a thirty year lease with option to renew.

In May of 2016, in the wake of Hurricane Winston, they began clearing the site. With one 90 cm Husqvarna 395 chainsaw between them, Jone and a team of brothers, friends and nephews felled 100 mature coconut palms. "The community came out to help," explains Jone. "There were ladies and kids from the village clearing away branches and debris." "Jone's mother was here cooking," adds Marina. "We were living in tents. Our first building was four poles and a tin roof." Because of Hurricane Winston, building supplies were scarce so Jone fired up the chainsaw and ripped 5 meter planks off the lower end of the downed coconut trees. These finished the walls of the guest bures and the restaurant while planks of hardwood visi, in the mahogany family, were ideal for flooring.

Three years later, the resort buildings are shaded by widely spaced coconut trees and flowering bushes. Two guest cabins have large verandas overlooking the bay. In the rear of each cabin is an open roof washroom complete with a solar shower. As well as the restaurant bure, there is a dive shop, bathroom block and washhouse. "We usually do our own laundry in the shower," says Marina, " but we do have a machine for the linens and it uses less water." Laundry dries quickly in the Fijian sunshine. Water is piped from a nearby stream and supplemented with rainwater. The saltwater septic field is lined with chunks of coral rock. The porous blocks are filled with microorganisms that digest and treat the resort sewage and greywater.

Local food

Now that the resort is up and running, Marina handles all the marketing, administration and finance, yet she still makes time to experiment with local food. "We have mandarins, tangerines, kumquats, lemons, bananas, papayas and mangoes in season and I make juice, jam, chutney and ice cream. One of my favorites is fried plantain with honey. You won't find pizza/burger/pasta here," she laughs. "We make Fijian ceviche, it's called kokoda, by soaking raw fish in lemon juice, then adding coconut milk, diced capsicum and onion. I used to have a garden with cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, long beans and bok choy but the feral pigs trampled it. The pig hunters went trapping and brought me a pig leg. That was too much nature for me. I asked them to remove the hair and the bone and then I will cook it!"

In the simple kitchen behind the restaurant bure, Jone's sister Rise (pronounced Reesee), a trained chef, turns out the elegant and ample meals for which the resort is famous. The menus draw on international and traditional Fijian cuisine and use mostly local foods. Dinners are hosted by Jone or Marina on the lawn, under strings of colored lights. Fluffy rolls with fresh butter and green salads precede every meal and we also enjoyed tuna sashimi with fresh ginger and local greens. For mains we sampled spicy lamb and chicken curries, chicken in coconut milk, lamb chops in a complex savoury mint sauce, stuffed aubergine, and seared tuna with a lemon butter and garlic sauce. Each meal came with steamed rice, Fijian yams, fresh warm rotis, and sauteed baby bok choy and carrots. In one booking, Rise accomodated vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free as well as bland and spicy palates. Although it was a la carte, there were second helpings! Dessert was two scoops of homemade ice cream. My favorites were avocado and banana.

One evening we had a potluck party and I brought my guitar to shore. Two of the locals fetched a guitar and a ukulele and we had a magic evening complete with fireworks and cake. Saiki and Bui taught me the wiggling duck dance and a couple of other children's songs. Rise and Apex joined in and we got the crowd of cruisers dancing and wiggling like baby ducks in the firelight under the palms. The young dive guides gathered around the kava bowl thought we had completely lost our minds...

Local jobs

As well as Chef Rise, the restaurant employs a young woman from the village to work in the kitchen. Servers Theresa and Bui live in the village next door. Margrete is Rise's daughter and also works as a server when she is home from boarding school. The soft spoken 14 year old plans to go on to university and study tourism. Apex sometimes hires out to DAF with his launch.

DAF trains new employees, giving them the qualifications to start a career in tourism. Jonah, a young father from the village, is the first DAF trained dive leader. Ben, 18, is in training and drives the dive launch. Jerry, 15, is just starting out and his duties include raking the grounds. Everyone here is related by birth or by marriage: Jonah is married to Jone's niece and, yes, Ben and Jerry are brothers and also Jone's nephews. I got to know five year old Gabby on my visits to the Ucunivatu kindergarten. He is the youngest of Apex and Rise's ten children and he knows all about steering a launch with a tiller...

Education

Marina regularly goes next door to Ucunivatu Primary School to give back to the community through education. Working with seven to 13 year olds there, she teaches marine biology and conservation so the students will understand, value and protect the reef and marine ecosystems on their doorstep. She also teaches about climate change and ways to reduce, reuse, recycle resources, particularly plastic. I noticed that all the students in the school have reusable water bottles, lunch containers and utensils. The lovely green schoolyard is litterfree. The children keep it clean as part of their school routine.

Cleanup Taveuni - mobilising a community

Over dinner one evening, Jone tells how the Cleanup Taveuni (9) project began. "I posted a picture of a beach on Taveuni saying, ' This is the dirtiest beach in Fiji. Taveuni is not the garden island. It is the GARBAGE island.' Then I invited everyone to come and clean it up. I can do that because I am a local." Since then, the community turns out once a month to pick up garbage and, "one and a half years later, we have removed over 70 tons of rubbish" from Taveuni's roads, beaches and waterways. "Its doubly important because not only do we clean up the land, we keep plastic and rubbish off the reef and out of the ocean." I drove the shore road on Taveuni in July of 2019 and did not see any litter on the garden island. Check out the photos on facebook page Cleanuptaveuni

Jone also mobilized the community in Viani Bay to clean up the beach in front of the school and village. Children and volunteers go on a beach walk and collect litter. Adults from the village have told Jone,"

My children tell me not to litter. 'Give it to me,' they say, ' I will dispose of it properly.'" Food scraps here go to the pigs. Paper and cardboard are burned along with garden refuse. Glass, tin and plastic go to recycling and rubbish goes to the landfill on Taveuni.

Coral Planting

On a reef in the south side of Viani Bay is another DAF conservation project: the coral nursery. Jone explains "In these shallow protected waters, it is easy to see which corals are heat resistant. We can propagate those species and then use them to replant damaged reef areas. Where we plant corals, the fish populations grow there also." Jone learned about coral farming from Victor Bonito at Reef Explorer, in Votua village on Fiji's southern Coral Coast, where international volunteers can take part in coral planting programs.(7) (8) "Bonito has lived in Votua since 2005, operating his community-based research and development business that supports local resource conservation"(2). Victor Bonito came to Viani Bay to help with the layout of the nursery and advise on farming techniques. Now, DAF guests, local youth and employees of other local dive operations all help with coral planting at Viani Bay. "Its something everyone can do," says Jone. "The locals are volunteering their time. They know we have to support the reef so it can support us."

I went out with my mask, snorkel and fins to join the coral planters - no scuba required. The team was collecting broken pieces of coral from the sandy bottom, where they would die, and cementing them onto hard substrate with balls made of cement, sand and plaster. The trick is to scrub the substrate clean with a brush, bring the cement ball down to the substrate and embed the coral in it. Jerry towed an old boogie board with a bucket full of cement balls. Jone gave me a tour of the nursery, pointing out healthy specimens that had been planted over the last year. I got a kick out of the dive guides: after several hours of planting coral, plus a day's work, they let off some steam by doing double backflips off the roof of their launch. Who knew that conservation work could be fun?

I was impressed and encouraged to see this kind of community involvement in science and conservation. Andrew Lewis writes about Reef Explorer in Earth Island Journal, 'It Takes A ViIlage'(2). "The idea is to challenge Big Research", by practising what might be called "Little Research"- that is, equipping communities with the knowledge and tools to nurture and protect the natural resources, like coral reefs, that they rely on, rather than handing the keys to outside experts, organizations, or institutions." Reef Resilience Network (3) reports that coral propagation techniques can be learned and carried out successfully by youth and community groups. It is important to have support from traditional leaders and elders to protect the coral nurseries. There is also a need for communities undertaking these kinds of projects to network and learn from one another.

In August 2019, the first of 10 coral nurseries (11) was set up at Viani Bay, with a series of ropes to support regenerating fragments of heat resistant coral species. Victor Bonito(1) notes that in the bleaching event of 2016, only 19 % of Reef Explorer's 7830 propagated nursery corals ultimately died while 50% of the adjacent corals ultimately died. So there is hope that corals being identified as heat resistant are actually better able to survive bleaching events. After 6-10 months, the fragments will be large enough to be transplanted onto a restoration site.(4) Planting between 2 and 4 corals per square meter will allow space for future growth. Reef Explorer's transplanting strategy is to "create mixed-species assemblages containing multiple genotypes of each species to improve reproductive success"(4)

Marine Protected Areas

In March of 2019, Jone presented a sperm whale tooth to the area head chief: the traditional way of making an important petition. He asked for the 22 dive sites of the Rainbow Reef to be made "tabu" or traditional "no fishing" zones. One of the sites, ironically named Fish Factory, was already fished out. It will take agreement from 14 hereditary chiefs to protect the Rainbow Reef from overfishing.

With the agreement of the chief at Viani Bay, Jone and a team of volunteers have already placed an MPA flag at Tivi Island. "This means that there is no fishing allowed and we have formal permission for the coral nursery here," explains Marina. The new MPA protects 1.4 kilometers of reef.

The science behind MPAs in Fiji is clear. The Nature Conservancy Reef Resilience Network(3) documents the development of local marine protection areas following a major bleaching event in 2000 in the south coast of Fiji's Viti Levu. Coupled with overharvesting and destructive fishing practices this climate stressor led to the Korolevu-i-wai reefs having "less than 10% living coral cover, being largely overgrown with seaweed" and drastic reductions in food fish stocks. With support from the University of the South Pacific's Institute of Applied Sciences(USP-IAS) and Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Areas (FLMMA), local traditional authorities established Marine Protection Areas with " traditional bans on:

• Using duva or any kind of poison
• Fishing with SCUBA or compressed air
• Spearfishing at night
• The removal of live coral or coral rock
• Damaging the reef (anchors, iron rods)
• Nets with mesh smaller than three inches
• Harvesting undersized, young fish
• Harvesting and selling beche-de-mer (sea cucumber)
• Leaving trash on beaches or on the reef
• Harvesting key herbivorous fish: Blue-spine surgeonfish and Orange-spine surgeonfish

... Some six to 10 years after their establishment, the MPAs had 500% more live coral cover and 50% greater species richness of coral than adjacent fished areas, little to no seaweeds, and 30% more food fish, 50% more species of food fish, and 500% more biomass of food fish than the adjacent fished areas."

The reefs simply cannot withstand the pressures of overfishing and destructive fishing practises as well as climate stressors. Jone sums it up this way, " The clans can see that things are changing and that we have to adapt. We all need food for our families, education and jobs. We have to give back to the reef so that it can provide for us."

Andrew Lewis reports in 2016 Earth Island Journal (2) that "there are more than 217 locally managed marine areas in Fiji, covering over 6,000 square miles of traditional fishing grounds.The hope is that by 2020, 20 percent of Fiji's nearshore reefs will be protected, rehabilitated and preserved by the villages themselves." Lewis quotes Victor Bonito "To turn science into policy is a painstaking process... but local policy can happen fast."

Focus on Dive Academy Fiji

Jone and Marina have more dreams to build at Viani Bay. Top conservation priorities are establishing MPA status for Rainbow Reef itself, placing mooring balls for visiting yachts to protect the corals in the Viani Bay, and expanding the coral planting program. The resort itself needs washrooms attached to the restaurant bure, an events bure, a bigger water cistern, a vegetable garden...

At the same time they want to stay small and provide a personal experience for every guest.

DAF can accommodate up to eight guests and the launch carries four divers plus staff. In our two week stay, we found some of the best snorkelling of our 6 months cruising around Fiji. At Cabbage Patch and Nuku on Rainbow Reef we saw clouds of colorful and varied reef fish, vibrant soft corals, hard coral over 500 years old, sea turtles, nudibranchs...something new every time we went in the water. We also went on a trip north to swim with the majestic manta rays. If you go, contact Marina at info@diveacademyfiji.com or phone +679 725 8184 or +679 725 8167 to arrange your stay. Yachts are welcome and there is lots of space in the bay.

Helen Sykes, of Marine Ecology Consulting, writes about "Communities and tourism working together to save marine life" in her article, Champions of the Marine World (5). She provides an overview of tourism operators that partner with local communities to manage local marine resources and acknowledges, "We are privileged in Fiji to have a tourism industry that is environmentally aware, and a system of traditional custodianship that allows local communities to manage their own natural resources." A full report published by the Wildlife Conservation Society (6) documenting 56 tourism/community managed Marine Protected Areas is available for downloading here. Among the report's recommendations is a call to showcase individual tourism/community MPAs and raise international awareness of the Fijian model of local marine resource management.

My thanks to Jone Waitaiti and Marina Walser, creative and dedicated conservationists and owners of Dive Academy Fiji, who gave me lengthy interviews and excellent coffee, and also to the DAF resort staff who answered my questions and gave me a window on their community.

Lisa Benckhuysen is a Canadian educator and freelance writer sailing around the world, slowly, with her husband. Her work has been published in Currents, Latitude 38 and Sailworld online magazines.

1) Bonito V, Coral Reef Recovery in Fiji, August 29 2016, Sylvia Earle Alliance, Mission Blue
2) Lewis A, It Takes A Village, Sept 21 2016, Earth Island Journal, Earth Island Institute September 21 2016
3) Reef Resilience Network-Fiji-Ecological Restoration, Aug 23, 2019, The Nature Conservancy
4) Reef Explorer Fiji Ltd. facebook post March 27 2019
5) Sykes H, Champions of the Marine World, (2019) A Mariners Guide To Fiji Shores & Marinas, fijimarinas.com
6) Sykes H, Mangubhai S, Manley M (2018) Contribution of Marine Conservation Agreements to Biodiversity Protection, Fisheries Management and Sustainable Financing in Fiji. Report No.02/18. Wildlife Conservation Society, Suva, Fiji. 98 pp
7) Tuilevuka N, Reef Explorer Offering Climate Change, Marine Volunteer Opportunities, 20 Apr 2018, Fiji Sun
8) workingabroad.com Fiji Coral Restoration Program l Working Abroad
9) Cleanup Taveuni Facebook
10) Dive Academy Fiji Facebook
11) Rainbow Reef Coral Farm Facebook