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(March 03, 2021) -Study finds that counting women fishers’ contributions is critical to sustainable fisheries management -Addressing gaps in accounting on these contributions is crucial to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals-A largely Fijian research team published core findings on women in fisheries in Fiji, within Ocean and Coastal Management Ocean and Coastal Management in Women’s History MonthWomen fishing. ©Sangeeta Mangubhai/WCS A new study highligh...

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(October 08, 2020) A week long mission aboard the Nai’a Fiji Cruises to survey coral reef ecosystems in the Namena Marine Reserve and Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park. A recent expedition to Fiji’s largest two community protected areas, Namena Marine Reserve (88 km2) and Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park (110.5 km2), shows that they are making an incredible recovery from the impact of a tropical cyclone in 2016.                    Coral recruits ©Tom Vie...

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(February 03, 2021) Access to clean drinking water is critical to public health. Natural disasters such as flooding and cyclones often reduce the ​quality of drinking water. Heavy rain and flooding can cause contamination of water from livestock waste, human sewage, harmful chemicals and fertilisers. Once contaminated, drinking water can become a hazard to human health and efficiently transmit deadly waterborne diseases such as typhoid fever and leptospirosis, and also cause diarrhea. Standing water that ...

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(February 01, 2021) A newly constructed dam in Bureta District in Ovalau Island in the Province of Lomaiviti will improve the quality and supply of water for at least 350 people. The new dam will serve fresh water to three villages, a settlement, the Bureta Airstrip, the local health center and a primary school. For past three years, the water supplied from an existing old dam that served the villages through the reservoir was insufficient. This was mainly due to a leakage in the dam and the use of single distribut...

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(May 28, 2020) The staff of Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) project joined the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MoHMS) to clean the premises of St. Giles Hospital in Reservoir Road, Suva, yesterday.                                                                               ...

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(July 30, 2020) Four staff with the Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) project are among the pioneers to undertake a Higher Education Degree by Research (HDR) at the Fiji National University (FNU). FNU’s College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) officially launched its HDR programme in July this year. As part of the capacity building and development program, the staff are awarded the scholarship through WISH Fiji project funded by Australian Government Departme...

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(September 03, 2020) The sea cucumber fishery is an important source of income for the people of Natuvu village in the District of Wailevu in Cakaudrove Province on Vanua Levu. Of the 30 sea cucumber species present in Fiji, 14 are most valuable to the fishers of Natuvu. However, the rapidly declining fishery and its inconsistent prices have concerned the villagers over time. Therefore, to ensure the continuity of their livelihood for generations, the people of Natuvu village have committed to putting the right man...

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(February 01, 2021) The repairing of a borehole in Tavulomo Village in the district of Dama in Bua Province has brought water to more than 180 people. In April 2020, the solar pump was damaged and stopped delivering water from the borehole to the 37 households in Tavulomo Village. Since then, the villages relied on the limited and restricted water supply from the neighbouring village in the district.In November, the villagers with support from the Watershed Interventions for Systems Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) proje...

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(March 11, 2020) Outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as dengue fever, typhoid and leptospirosis are common in Fiji. Since 2005, there has been at least 20 reported cases of typhoid, a 27,000 case dengue outbreak between 2013 to 2014 and a three-fold increase in leptospirosis cases since Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016. The Watershed Interventions for System Health in Fiji (WISH Fiji) project is helping to better understand drivers of these diseases within Fiji’s watersheds, and working with local commun...

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(May 17, 2020) Of the top five countries in the world most at risk to disasters, three are Pacific Island nations. Yet, Pacific Islanders time and again exhibit marked abilities to quickly recover. Part of the reason may be due to strong social networks that help to distribute resources to those most in need. A new study published in the journal Coastal Management by researchers from the University of Hawaiʿi, National Geographic Society and the Wildlife Conservation Society has found that sharing is stronger ...

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