In Fiji, climate change drowns hopes

(Togoru) In Fiji, the ocean has already engulfed the cemetery of the small village of Togoru, and its inhabitants fear that they will soon have their feet in the water.

Lavenia McGoon, 70, was there when the graves were submerged. Since then, she dreads the day when the waves will knock directly on her door.

In the meantime, the old lady is piling tires under the coconut trees on the seafront, hoping that this makeshift protection will give her respite.

For her, it’s only a matter of time before climate change and rising waters force her and her family to flee. “No one can stop the water,” she told AFP simply, facing the tide and a few crabs that are scuttling towards rocks.

Togoru is a small village on the south coast of Viti Levu, the largest island in the Fijian archipelago. As in dozens of others, global warming imposes its harsh reality.

M^me McGoon, nicknamed “Big Nana” by her neighbors, has lived here by the ocean for nearly 60 years. Her little wooden house has no electricity or running water.

The old lady raises her finger to the waves. “We had a plantation right there,” she recalls.

But the mainland is gone. “In 20 to 30 years, we have lost almost 55 meters”.

The approximately 200 dead once buried in Togoru were disturbed in their sleep by the ocean. M^me McGoon says the remains of most of them have been moved away.

She resists, refuses to go away, clings to her little corner of paradise. Anyway, “moving at (her) age” would make her sick.

“A big difference”

Fiji, surrounded by the waters of the Pacific, prepares for the day when life on the coastal villages will become impossible.

The challenge is colossal. The government estimates that more than 600 municipalities will have to be evacuated and that 42 villages are already seriously threatened. More than 70% of the 900,000 Fijians live within five kilometers of the seafront.

According to Australia’s Monash University, the waters of the Western Pacific are rising two to three times faster than average.

Small nations close to sea level like Kiribati or Tuvalu could thus become completely uninhabitable within 30 years.

In their misfortune, Fiji can be happy to have some mountains.

The village of Vunidogoloa, for example, on the island of Vanua Levu, moved to higher ground in 2014, becoming one of the first to have to move due to rising waters.

The 200 inhabitants of Veivatuloa, 40 kilometers from the capital Suva, are trying all the solutions at their disposal.

There, the salt water nibbles the wooden houses, mounted on stilts. Between them, small plank bridges are used to avoid the puddles that accumulate on the ground when the tide is low.

The anti-submersion wall which also protects the village is suffering the blow. And residents regularly pressure the government to strengthen it.

Sairusi Qaranivalu, a local spokesperson, thinks moving is a great pain for Fijians, where connection to land and ancestors is part of custom. “It’s like deconstructing traditional life and the way we live together,” he laments.

Another problem is that as the ocean gets closer, anglers have to go further and further to find fish.

Before the rising waters, it was enough to go about twenty meters, recalls Leona Nairuwai, a former Veivatuloa. “But now you take the speedboat for a mile (1.6 kilometres), and there you can catch a fish. There is a big difference”.

“Beyond the Sea”

About half of Fiji’s rural population survives on fishing, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Warmer waters, threatened coastal ecosystems, species plundered by foreign ships… the challenges are nevertheless numerous for the sector.

Abaitia Rosivulavula, a local guide and subsistence fisherman, says she makes a living selling her catch to restaurants in Pacific Harbour, a tourist hotspot in the archipelago.

On his tub, he scoops the deck as best he can before starting the engine. Head to a nearby reef.

Most of his lures will be eaten by sharks and fish too small to cheer him up.

“Before, there were a lot of fish,” he assures AFP before relaunching his line. And the sockets have shrunk a lot, he shows with his hands.

According to a ranking of the Threatened Natural Fisheries Conservation Index, Fiji is the 12^e fishery most threatened by climate change, out of 143 countries.

Four other Pacific nations, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga, are in the top 10.

Back in Togoru, “Big Nana” McGoon judges that small countries like his are paying the price for those who refuse to reduce their emissions.

“They only think about making money, she criticizes, they never think of others, of those who will suffer. »

Despite everything, the village elder wants to stay at all costs, even if it means seeing her grandchildren move. ” I like this place. It’s beautiful, ”she describes simply.

“The only thing I tell my grandkids…go to school, achieve your goals. Look beyond the sea. Because the water will always run its course”.