TARUSILA Veibi has every reason to smile at the age of 55 years.
This is after her commitment and drive to support conservation efforts at community level took a giant leap through her first international participation at the United Nations Ocean Conference in New York last week.
Mrs Veibi said she never dreamt that she would get a chance to represent Fiji at the UN Ocean Conference.
“I expressed my concerns on the topic of Women Healers of the Ocean, the topic which says a lot about women, mothers and girls,” she said.
“I represented the women who go out fishing, come back late, manage to sell their catches, put food on the table and continuously care for their families.”
Mrs Veibi, who is originally from Lomanikoro in Bua, is a conservationist with the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area Network (FLMMA) since 2008.
Since 2015, she has been part of a team advocating to women fishers in different provinces across Fiji on a project for mud crabs.
She said mud crabs held a special significance in many communities and this would differ in some districts.
“In Ba and Tavua, the mud crabs are a totem and it’s during traditional ceremonies that ladies are required to present a basket which usually consists of up to 50 or more mud crabs,” she said.
“These mud crabs are now on a decline because of overconsumption, overfishing, habitat destruction, developments and climate change.”
Ms Veibi said work on the conservation of mud crabs had been inspiring, given the support from women fishers, youths and men.
“I am fully committed to the mud crab project and I was chosen by Wildlife Conservation Society to take up the post of representative for women fishers not only for the province of Bua but for the women of Fiji.
“We are working with 14 villages and most of the villages we have visited support the idea of protecting the natural habitats of the mud crabs.
“During village meetings, it’s great to see women highlight the need to place taboo areas or protected sites and their voices are heard in these meetings which is encouraging and at the same time youths and men of the village are supporting this initiative.”