Travel Fiji May 2013 | Page 7

Environment

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Their aim:

Coral Cay Conservation’s marine conservation projects consider each of these factors:

Local: engaging stakeholders through alternative livelihood provision and capacity building e.g. skills training, environmental awareness schemes, award and scholarship scheme and much more.

National: collaborating with NGOs and government departments to ensure more effective conservation outputs.

International: promoting the project work and outputs at international forums and through relevant media to encourage greater support for work 'on the ground'.

Raising awareness:

Ways to raise awareness include running workshops locally to help spread the word. These workshops are both interactive and fun, while also allowing the main goal to be achieved.

An example of this is the Malolo District School. In the 6-10 session course, they highlighted the importance of reefs and threats imposed on them. Ways to manage the coastal issues were also explained, and participants did activities such as rubbish surveys along the coast.

Inviting them to talk in education programs at your school both locally and internationally will inform everyone about the dangers being inflicted on the coral reefs of Fiji.

Coral Reef Conservation CConservations

Coral Cay is an international organization that strives to help protect natural environments around different parts of the world. In Fiji, Coral Cay hopes to collect as much scientific data possible, so they are able to provide the right resources to help protect the coral reefs in Fiji.

An example of a natural phenomenon being affected by tourist activities are coral reefs. With the warmer sea temperatures coral bleaching can happen which makes the corals turn white completely. The dartfish species can be very sensitive as a result of these environmental changes too.

These living organisms may seem very bare and plain, they actually play an important part in the economy of Fiji. They provide:

- Jobs for fishermen

- Attractions for tourists

- Source of food and medical care

- and during storms they are key to stop loss of life, property and erosion.