Fiji Hub Achievement Report Caqalai

July 2017
Objective: Partnership Development and Strengthening

Partnership Strengthening

Working together: the first workshop for the Moturiki Yaubula Management Support Team (MYMST)
delivered by Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas Network (FLMMA)

Objective

1. Moturiki Yaubula Management Support Team (MYMST): Support the continued development
and training of the MYMST and their management strategy

2. Environmental Engagement and Education: Provide the communities of Caqalai and Moturiki
with information on their natural resources, including the threats and means of protection, to em-
power them

UN SDG 11: Sustainable cities & communities

UN SDG 14: Life below water

UN SDG 15: Life on land

UN SDG 17: Partnership for the goals

Summary

In October 2016, GVI Caqalai facilitated the creation of the Moturiki Yaubula Management Support
Team; this committee is tasked with the sizeable role of creating and implementing a resource man-
agement strategy for Moturiki. To support them in this ambitious aim, our local partners FLMMA

GVI.2016.1
the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas Network - held a 3-day workshop with the MYMST to guide
them in the development of their strategy.

Report

Key to the success of GVIs projects world-wide is community engagement and empowerment;
working with and for the communities we live in. The work carried out by GVI Caqalai is on behalf of
the communities of neighbouring Moturiki Island, whether it is working with them directly through
our Community Expedition, or conducting research and education through the Marine Conservation
Program. The Moturiki communities welcome the GVI team to their islands and in to their homes,
sharing their hospitality in a way only Fijians can.

In October 2016, GVI facilitated the creation of a Moturiki Yaubula Management Support Team
(MYMST) (yaubula being Fijian for natural resources - marine, terrestrial and human). This marked
a significant milestone, transferring management to the population of Moturiki themselves, totalling
around 800 people through 10 villages and strongly maintaining traditional Fijian ways of life. Previ-
ously their resources were man-
aged through nearby Ovalau Is-
land, with its own population of
over 9,000 in 24 settlements, in-
cluding the old colonial capital
Levuka and a prolific tuna can-
ning industry.

In June 2017, our partners, the

Fiji Locally Managed Marine Ar-
eas Network (FLMMA, a flagship
example for LMMAs worldwide),
spent 3 days with the MYMST in
Savuna Village on Moturiki. The MYMST is made up of key community members, such as the village
head men (turaga ni koro), District Nurses and members of the Youth and Womens Committees;
together a formidable combination! During the workshop, the MYMST developed a strategy to man-
age their resources sustainably, balancing the needs of the community today with their future needs
and creating a vision for how Moturiki see the future of their resources.

GVI presented to FLMMA and the MYMST on the work we have been doing on Caqalai and Moturiki
and how we can help further support Moturiki in caring for their resources, including surveying their
four tabu areas, or marine no-take zones, 3 of which were only designated earlier in 2017. We will
begin gathering data in these areas in the coming months, in order to assess how the tabus impact
the marine ecosystems.

It is vital that natural resource management is handed to the communities they belong to. The crea-
tion of the MYMST has done just that and promises great things for Moturikis communities and the
future of the resources they rely upon.

A special thanks to our Community Outreach Coordinator and Moturiki boy, Tai and our Science and
Engagement Officer, Dee for all their work with the MYMST and for enabling the workshops with
FLMMA.

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