The ocean plays a significant role in human existence and it is rooted deeply to people’s inheritance, culture and their way of life.
Celebrating the significance of oceans, new young recruits for the National Trust of Fiji and Shangri-La Yanuca Island Fiji’s Heritage in Your Hands (HIYH) program were part of the resort’s World Oceans Day in Sigatoka last week.
The young recruits, with resort staff members and stakeholders, were part of a huge clean-up at Cuvu Beach. Rubbish that was collected by the clean-up team included cans, plastic bottles, plastics, cartons and wood.
Ministry of Tourism’s Assistant Minister Alitia Bainivalu, who was chief guest at the event, spoke on the importance of the ocean and why it was crucial to Fijians’ livelihood.
“Our forefathers sailed across large volumes of water and in the vast ocean searched for a perfect dwelling we now call home,” she said.
“Our ocean also provided them with food and sustenance that we in turn have inherited as means of livelihood and survival.
“We have been able to feed our family from the ocean, send our children to school from sales of fish and we have been able to generate small, medium and large incomes from ocean resources.
“This has been in the form of harvesting of resources, transportation and one of the sustainable sectors which we are all proud of – tourism.”
She asked those present at the celebration, if the ocean had provided them with sustenance and survival, then why was it vital that they celebrate and recognise the importance of that resource?
“One of the biggest reasons is the fact that the ocean serves as the planet’s largest habitat and helps regulate the world’s climate,” she said.
“We learn and experience this with the different life forms and organisms that we see in our ocean and how tides and the weather patterns change with variations in oceans.”
She says a more important reason to recognise oceans is the fact that it is under threat. It is due to human induced threats such as global warming, increased pesticides and nutrients used in agriculture, increased factory discharge that pollute the ocean, overfishing and the use of destructive fishing methods.
“For starter, let us all recognise the importance of our ocean, not just through a celebration, but let us celebrate through decisive actions,” she said.
“Actions that include taking the lead in ensuring that we reduce waste and pollutants that affect the life source of our ocean,” she said.
“We acknowledge the needs for a collective approach in sustainable management of our ocean resources; we protect traditional knowledge and harvesting methods so that the younger generations are taught safe methods of harvesting.
“We enjoy our ocean resources through green initiatives and we participate in beach clean-up and awareness programs — and share messages of ocean protection in all levels of society.”
Heritage in Your Hands recruit Richie Steele said it was the first-time for him to be part of a clean-up program with HIYH. Steele said he was happy to be there with his friends and be part of the cleanup.
The 12-year-old from Kulukulu, Sigatoka added that he learned a lot about keeping the beaches and ocean clean during the World Oceans Day activity.
Those that participated in the cleanup included the Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park team, their Heritage in Your Hands program recruits, the EcoTrax Fiji team, Sigatoka Town Council team and the Shangri-La Yanuca Island team.
