Claim: Climate Activist Tourists are Helping to Save Fijian Mangroves
12 hours ago Eric Worrall
Imagine flying thousands of miles to a tropical island so you can spend all day digging holes.
Fijian tourists help islanders adapt to climate change
By Emily Woods
Updated January 8 2024 – 5:05am, first published 5:00am
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But under the surface of this tropical paradise is a vulnerable archipelago living through the daily impacts of climate change.
Rising sea levels have caused saltwater intrusion, depriving some Fijian communities of their freshwater sources.
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“We have some vulnerable communities, so we’re trying our best to adapt whatever we do to this current climate change,” Ilisapeci Botevou told AAP, while planting mangroves with dozens of tourists on the island of Senautari.
Mangroves protect Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands from rising sea levels, trap 10 times more carbon than other trees and are a source of food as a breeding ground for fish, mud crabs and oysters, Ms Botevou tells the group.
She hands out roots, from adult mangrove plants, which are then plunged into the shallow sea water and covered with stones to stop the seedlings from moving when waves and currents come in.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/01/08/claim-fiji-fly-in-tourists-helping-to-save-mangrove-swamps/
