She calls wetlands the “Kidneys of the Earth,” and for Bindiya Rashni- Taveuni’s own tropical wetland ecologist- that’s not just a metaphor, it’s a mission.
The daughter of a farmer from Qarawalu settlement in Vuna, Bindiya has gone from her humble beginnings at South Taveuni Primary School to carving a niche as one of Fiji’s foremost voices in freshwater ecosystem conservation.
“I am a farmer’s daughter brought up at Qarawalu settlement of Vuna district of Taveuni island- a born and bred Tagimoucian,” she said proudly.
Now a PhD candidate in Hydrobiology at the University of the South Pacific, Bindiya has dedicated over a decade to studying the rich yet fragile wetlands and rivers of Fiji and beyond.
Her deep dive into macroinvertebrates – tiny aquatic critters that tell big stories about water health- has led her to identify over a million individual specimens across Melanesia to Samoa.
Her science isn’t stuck in the lab.
With creative tools like the “Traffic Light Bioindicator” and the “Meandering Mates Hunt” game, she’s bringing taxonomy into villages, “putting Knowledge into Action,” she says- empowering communities to monitor and protect ecosystems using their own totem species, in what she calls ‘ethno-biomonitoring’.
This year, her efforts were recognised with the prestigious inaugural Peter Gaenssler Award.
“It was a huge honour,” she reflects.
Currently developing the Odonata Index of Fijian Wetland Integrity, Bindiya hopes to see Fiji’s first national freshwater wetland assessment tool in place, one that pushes policy, builds protection laws, and celebrates the value of water.
From Taveuni’s streams to the halls of academia, Bindiya Rashni is flowing forward – and Fiji’s ecosystems are better for it.
Bindiya in her element. Picture: SUPPLIED