The Waimanu catchment is a critical catchment that needs to be managed to sustain water quality and quantity, states the report “Rapid Resource Assessment Report of the Waimanu River Catchment, Fiji” that was prepared by Conservation International.
The report states it is imperative to protect ecosystem services in the upper reaches of the Waimanu river catchment to ensure provisioning of clean and abundant water supply to the greater Suva area.
“Protection under the Forest Decree 1992 – Nature Reserve will require consensus from at least 60 per cent of all mataqali members to facilitate the issue of conservation lease,” states the report.
“At the same time, it is imperative to improve hygienic standards of all communities in the catchment area to ensure high quality of water uptake at the two water pumps administered by the Water Authority of Fiji at the lower catchment of Waimanu River.
“It is recommended (that) to secure protection of the upper Waimanu catchment under conservation lease arrangement while the lower reaches of the Waimanu catchment will need extensive efforts in awareness and capacity building to ensure sustainable land use practices are adopted and implemented.”
