As many as 60 volunteers equipped with shovels and gloves planted 2000 mangrove seedlings along the Korotogo Village foreshore on Tuesday.
This initiative was spearheaded by Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort in partnership with Korotogo Police Post and Korotogo Village youth group to commemorate International Day of Forests.
Resort general manager Darren Shaw said the project was part of Outriggers global environmental program which was designed to help support ocean conservation.
He highlighted the need to raise awareness on the importance of mangroves which contributed to the wellbeing of the community and country as a whole.
“An estimated 75 per cent of commercially caught fish spend some time in the mangroves or depend on food webs that can be traced back to these coastal forests,” Mr Shaw said.
“Planting mangroves gives us a good lesson that if we care for nature, there are many advantages to us and future generations in the long term.
“Let’s work together to protect our ecosystems and make this world environmentally sustainable.”
He said the resort had planted 400 seedlings and collected 67 kilograms of rubbish in June last year as part of the coastal erosion eradication and mangrove regeneration project.
Resort director of human resource Ashneel Chand said the aim of the project was to protect the coastline from drastic effects of climate change and rising sea levels faced in Korotogo.
Cpl Mesulame Sadria of the Korotogo Police Post said they had been working alongside the resort in its community outreach programs since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The resort will also join the global effort by turning off electricity for an hour to mark Earth Hour 2023 this Saturday.
