Typically fabulous Nadi weather greeted us at Port Denarau, as our entourage readied for a ferry trip to the sunny Mamanucas.
Natives of outer island communities heading home mingled with guests headed for sunbaked palm fringed resorts in this idyllic slice of Fiji, although most were oblivious to the significance of this trip.
I was accompanying an entourage representing government, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders who were part of serious efforts to restore the balance of nature on one of the most beautiful islands in the Fiji group.
We were there to witness the release of 32 young Fijian crested iguanas, a critically endangered species found only in Fiji, back into their natural habitat on Monuriki Island.
Hatched and raised at Kula Eco Park in Korotogo, this is the first time that Fiji crested iguanas and the first Fiji endangered species ever to have been bred in captivity and then introduced into the wild in Fiji.
About an hour after leaving Denarau on a South Seas Cruises boat we arrived on the beautiful island of Yanuya, which lies in the district of Malolo.
Interestingly Yanuya is part of Nadroga/Navosa province despite being in closer proximity to Nadi.
The people of Yanuya are the custodians of nearby Monuriki, made famous as the island that Tom Hanks filmed the movie Castaway in 2000.
Earlier in the day our team consisting of National Trust of Fiji wild-life experts and other representatives from BirdLife International and Nature Fiji, had visited Kula Eco Park in Sigatoka, where the iguanas have been bred in captivity since 2010.
In recent years conservationists have scrambled to save these beautiful creatures, scientifically named Brachylophus vitiensis, after it emerged that goats and rats were the biggest threat to their ongoing survival on their picturesque island haven.
These “invaders” were devouring the eggs and hatchlings of the Fiji crested iguana and destroying their natural food source on this 38 hectare island.
Two hunters were even brought from New Zealand just to rid Monuriki of the goats which were first brought to the island in the 1960s.
We arrived at Yanuya close to dark but there was an air of excitement that pervaded the village as men women, children realised the importance of our visit.
With the agreement of the Mataqali Navunaivi of Yanua village the NTF, with colleagues from the non-government organisation BirdLife International, have been restoring the habitat on Monuriki since 2011.
The team of conservationists were there to help a friend in the iguanas, known locally as vokai, while some would even go as far as to call them fellow custodians of the land.
Our team later presented a traditional sevusevu to the village chief Ratu Josevata Lewavave who has continued with the good work left by his late predecessor Ratu Sitiveni Drigi who spearheaded the initiative until his untimely demise two years ago.
The next day, after a hearty breakfast, we waited for the iguanas to arrive from Sigatoka, transported by boat from Denarau and brought over by another group which included National Trust of Fiji director Elizabeth Erasito, Kula Eco Park Director Ramesh Chand and Stesha Pasachnik, an iguana expert from San Diego Zoo, who was brought over to specifically tag and release these amphibians.
As children and adults listened on at the village hall, Natural Trust of Fiji project officer Jone Niukula explained the lengthy process involved leading up to the release of the iguanas
After a lengthy sevusevu ceremony where kava and whales tooth (tabua) were presented to Ratu Lewavave in a traditional way of welcoming the iguanas back home, three boatloads of excited conservationists, villagers and school children headed for Monuriki, which is just a short 15-minute boat ride from Yanuya.
Also with us was the 300 or so islands within the Fiji group, the iguanas surely chose the pick of the bunch.
Monuriki, surrounded by a coral reef and lagoon is simply breathtaking to behold, particularly so on a beautiful sunny day as the colours of the azure Pacific Ocean and its white beaches are accentuated.
The island is the crown jewel of the tikina of Malolo, visited by hundreds of visitors each week from nearby tourism establishments like Tokoriki island Resort.
The iguanas couldn’t have picked a better place to call home.
There was a buzz of excitement as everyone on the island looked forward to seeing these animals finallly reconnecting with the home of their ancestors.
“It’s quite stressed out and this shows by the shades of black on its body,” explained NTF project Officer Josefa Ravuso pointing to the very first male crested iguana to be released on Monoriki.
There was applause from those gathered around a vutu tree, where this iguana was simultaneously released with a female, a procedure that experts agree improves its chances of survival and reproducing.
The new arrivals on the island, which were carefully kept in cardboard boxes before being released, ranged from one to three years old.
The iguanas are at home on native trees like vutu and vau, species which grow in some quantities on the island.
While many think that releasing these animals in the wild is easy, nothing can be further from the truth given the very rugged and rocky terrain on the island.
These animals had to be first tagged with a radio transmitter by Pasachnik and then strategically released in specifics areas on the island, a laborious undertaking that left many tired bodies.
The group of iguana enthusiasts dwindled to a handful as the day progressed, proving that this sort of work is for only true conservationists at heart.
Dry tropical vegetation on Monuriki has been suitable for the Wedge-tailed Shearwater which breed there between October and April.
The removal of goats from the island has allowed the island to flourish again.
“This pathway was all clear when the goats were here but its all bushy now. The place has really grown back to how it used to be before,” explained Jone, a Yanuya villager.
Although the iguanas are back in their natural habitat, many were intrigued as to how well they would make the transition from a captive breeding enclosure at Kula Eco park to an island environment.
“They have become so used to being fed all the time — but we have been training them for a couple of months now to eat leaves so it’ll be interesting to see how they go from here” said Chand, who has been in charge of the iguana breeding program at Kula Eco Park since 2010.
Although the iguanas have bred on the island for centuries, the emergence of predators and others competing with the same resources on Monuriki has made its future survival difficult.
The sluggish behaviour of the amphibians is a peculiar trait that can work against them.
“They are actually quite lazy,” offered Nunia Thomas, Conservation Co-ordinator at Nature Fiji as we watched a male iguana.
Thomas worked in tandem with Pasachnik in tagging and releasing these magnificent creatures into their natural environment.
Earlier I had spoken with Yanuya island chief Ratu Josevata Lewavave who shared the special relationship the people of the tikina shared with the amphibians.
“The iguanas have always been there from ever since I can remember,” said Ratu Josevata.
“They were there even before my great-grandfather’s time and we are unsure of how they got there.”
This is a question that many scientists in Fiji and abroad are also left with.Pasachnik, who has travelled around the world and worked on iguanas in exotic locations like the Galapagos Island and Honduras, said Fiji crested iguanas are special.
“We know that this is the oldest group of iguanas and it’s also the most ancestral group of iguanas around,” said the San Diego-based iguana expert.
Another iguana expert from the US shared similar views.
“Their closest iguana relatives apart from the other Fijian iguanas are more than 8,000 kilometers away in the Galapagos and southwestern North America, and their genetics suggests an even more confusing ancestry,” says Dr Robert Fisher, US Geological Survey, who is based in California but has studied Fijian natural history for 25 years.
“It’s another reason why Fiji’s native wildlife and habitats are important to science, and important for the local community to protect for future study and appreciation.”
Ideally the iguanas would have been released in a more drawn out schedule but eventually all 32 of these creatures were finally back in their ancestral home.
“It’s sad to see them go because I have seen them from when they were eggs — but it’s good to see that they are finally home.
“Sa lesu mai vale,” said Chand, as he released another pair of the herbivores.
“Fiji is home to several species of unique iguanas, which are found nowhere else in the world,” says Dr Peter Harlow, the Taronga Zoo ecologist advising the iguana conservation initiative.
“They look like neon-coloured dragons with their bright green bodies and dorsal crests, but they’re actually perfectly camouflaged to hide in Fiji’s forests. They’re so well hidden that we’re still figuring out which islands have iguanas, and how many species of them there are. So to protect and restore, even one tiny island like Monuriki will be a big help and is a credit to the foresight of the traditional landowners — the Mataqali Vunaivi of Yanuya Village.”
Yanuya island spokesman Ratu Maika Ratu said the project was vital to the welfare of the whole island and its people.
“This project has also made us realize how important it is to protect the island, for our children’s livelihood in the future and also for this very special iguana, the sea birds and other plants and animals that live in it. We thank Kula for breeding more iguanas for our island.”
The successful reintroduction into the wild of these crested iguanas was a culmination of years of collaborations between different agencies with one joint goal.
These beautiful creatures were finally back home where they belong.
