The Ministry of Forestry held a joint mangrove planting program on Tuesday afternoon with the Japan Maritime Self- Defence Force (JMSDF) and the Fiji Navy at the Nasese foreshore in Suva.
Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force crew were in the country on a four-day visit onboard the Japanese naval ship JS Kirisame which departs today.
They had collected rubbish before proceeding with planting 20,000 mangroves at the foreshore. Naval attaché of the Embassy of Japan in Fiji and Australia, Amanuma Tomoyuki, said they were focusing on climate change.
“This was not the intention of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force but we have the obligation to contribute to the prevention of climate change,” he said.
“We are now encouraging Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force crew to participate in this kind of event.”
Mr Tomoyuki said this was not the first time the crew had taken part in a mangrove planting initiative. “We have done several mangrove planting program in the past.
“I think this is a fantastic program because the Japanese government is now focusing on how we can contribute to Pacific island countries including Fiji.
“We will also be visiting Tonga, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Australia and Philippines.”
The deployment of the 170 crew members in the Pacific was to strengthen cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region through joint exercises and to contribute to the peace and stability of the region.
Ministry of Forestry executive director operation and services Tevita Bulai thanked the crew for taking their time to take part in the mangrove planting program.
This would contribute towards our carbon initiative of planting 30 million trees in 15 years,” he said.
