Living Reefs "Cakau Bulabula"

The Coral Gardens project in Fiji was a community-based program that provided support and expertise to help communities and resorts conserve, manage and restore the coral reef resources on which they rely.

Beginning in 1999, Counterpart International (Counterpart) partnered with Partners in Community Development Fiji (PCDF) to implement a Coral Gardens Initiative that enabled traditional resource-owning communities to partner with the private sector to bring about the recovery of shared coral reefs and coastal marine resources. The Initiative was based on the establishment of no-take marine protected areas as part of community-based resource management plans, plus the implementation of various coral reef conservation and restoration program activities.

Such hands-on activities as replanting corals and mangroves stimulate the involvement of local communities and resorts, resulting in increased awareness and support for conservation, as well as accelerated recovery of coral reef ecosystems and marine resources. Sustainable income generating incentives in the areas of ecotourism and sustainable community-based coral farming are promoted in the conservation plans, providing an alternative income and further enhancing public-private collaboration in conserving and restoring coral reefs.

The Living Reefs Initiative facilitated participatory root-cause analysis of resource decline and environmental degradation by resource owning communities, with formulation and implementation of community-based resource management plans for each district. These plans included setting aside approximately 20-30% of reef, mangrove and sea grass habitats as no-take areas, hands-on resource restoration activities and strengthening of local governance structures. The plans also included measures to increase benefits of reef tourism to the local communities - through establishing marine parks, training reef guides and fish wardens and establishing visitor-supported financial mechanisms to support the sustainability of the projects.