Los cambios en el ámbito de la actividad clínica

Fiji is an archipelagic state that lies midway between W allis and Futuna and Samoa to the northwest, Tonga to the east, New Caledonia to the southwest, Vanuatu to the west, and Tuvalu to the north (Figure 3.1). The country consists o f 332 islands, and the total land area is 18,333 square kilometres (F iji Government 2004). In 2007, approximately one-third o f these islands were inhabited by a total population o f 827,900. This was divided into 57.3 per cent Fijians, 37.6 per cent Indians and 5.1 per cent others. W hile the two largest islands,

V iti Levu and Vanua Levu, constitute 87 per cent o f the total area, small and scattered islands make up the rest o f the country.

Figure 3.1 Map of Fiji

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Fiji enjoys a south sea maritime climate that supports various rich ecosystems and a wide variety o f habitats. As terrestrial ecosystems, the islands include lowlands and montane rainforests, inland swamps and grasslands. The coastal and marine areas o f Fiji

also vary w ith different types o f ecosystems, such as mangroves, sandy beaches, tidal flats and coral reefs. These different ecosystems provide humans with a variety o f services, as explained in the next section. Although in the bigger islands the mountains and other inland natural environments are important as sources o f water and agricultural land, a significant portion o f people, particularly those livin g in coastal areas and small islands, are dependent on the coastal and marine environment and their natural resources. According to the Fisheries Division Annual Report (F iji Government 1996b), approximately 50% o f all rural households in F iji depend on fishing to satisfy their protein needs. The subsistence production is estimated to be 21,600 tonnes including finfish and non finfish, or slightly more than h a lf o f all domestic production (FAO 2002).

3.2.2 The Coastal Environment

Definitions of a coastal zone

The boundary between the land and ocean generally occurs through a gradual transitional region, called a ‘coastal zone.’ As suggested by Carter, a very broad definition is:

‘The coastal zone is that space in which terrestrial environments influence marine (or lacustrine) environments and vice versa’ (1988: 1).

Since the natural processes that shape the coast are highly dynamic, varying in both space and time, this line where land and ocean meet constantly moves. Accordingly, there is no single definition for such zones, and different boundaries are delineated for particular management purposes, as Hildebrand and Narrena state:

‘ In practice, the [coastal] zone may include a narrowly defined area about the land-sea interface on the order of hundreds o f metres to a few kilometres, or extend from the inland reaches of coastal watersheds to the limits o f national

jurisdiction in the offshore. Its definition will depend on the particular set of issues and geographical factors which are most relevant to each stretch o f coast’ (1992: 94).

In particular, small island countries like Fiji should have a specific definition o f coasts, because the general definition could cover the entire land o f the state. Filer et al.

proposed a narrow definition for Papua New Guinea’ s coastal zone as:

‘the space which extends 10 kilometres inland from a shoreline up to a maximum height of 600 metres above sea level, or 10 metres below mean sea level but within 10 kilometres of a shoreline’ (2004: 9).

I argue that this definition can be applied to Fiji, particularly for some o f its bigger islands because its geographical characteristics as an island are similar to those o f Papua New Guinea.

In this thesis, my attention is on the marine component o f coastal zones, although I realise the importance and impact o f the management o f terrestrial components, such as agriculture, forestry and construction o f human settlements on the coastal zone. However, Fijian CBCRM has evolved focusing on marine resources and customary marine tenure explained in this chapter. Thus, management activities o f the marine components provide an appropriate case for an analysis o f the role o f social capital in CBCRM in Fiji.

Coastal ecosystems and their services

As discussed in Chapter 1, a great number o f Fijians directly use coastal resources as a source o f food and commercial products, as well as a cultural good. In addition to these economic and social benefits, different types o f ecosystems, such as mangroves, tidal flats, seagrass beds and coral reefs, provide different ecological services.

Mangroves are a formation of coastal trees or shrubs that are adapted to estuarine or even saline environments. It is known that mangroves provide significant value in the coastal zone as a buffer against erosion, storm surge and waves along many low-lying tropical coasts. Serving as a bulwark, they protect human settlements, agriculture and other infrastructure from storms. Mangroves are also one o f the most important habitats for wildlife, including a number of bird species and commercially important species of fish and crustaceans. The mangrove ecosystem is highly productive and the abundance of decomposing detritus from the trees and other plants in the forests provides a rich source of food. Furthermore, the structure of mangrove roots that normally exist in shallow water prevents access by predators and provides a relatively secure nursery ground for the juveniles o f different species of prawns, crabs and fishes.

The richest mangroves in Fiji occur at the mouths o f major river deltas around mud- covered stream banks in the tidal zone. Fiji’s mangroves are mainly found on the two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. As a result, mangroves are often close to human inhabited areas thus making them vulnerable to major damage from various types of development. According to time series data compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (Wilkie and Fortun 2003), the estimated area of mangroves of Fiji declined from 51,700 square kilometres in 1969 to 49,777 square kilometres in 1975, and then to 42,464 square kilometres in 1991. The decrease has continued mainly due to developments for farming (especially in Ba and Labasa areas), tourism (Nadi Bay) and urban development (especially in Suva area) (Fiji Government 1997a: 11). The state has developed mangrove management plans (Phase I in 1985 and

Phase II in 1986) to promote sustainable uses of the mangroves but these need to be implemented and enforced.

Intertidal areas o f the coastal edge sometimes have wide areas of open tidal flats, often found in estuaries and lagoons. Such intertidal areas support seagrass and marine algae that provide essential feeding areas for fish at high tide or birds at low tide. The tidal flats also serve to catch nutrients and hold them, thus they act as important energy processing and storage elements of the lagoon, estuary, and delta ecosystems.

Coral reefs are often regarded as one of the most important ecosystems for tropical maritime nations. Like mangroves, coral reefs are known to provide a defence against storm waves that would otherwise inundate coastal lands. Although endemism tends to be low, coral reefs generally have a high diversity of species. Based on the concept of ‘hotspots15’ coral reefs also receive high levels o f attention as targets for environmental protection.

With an estimated number of reefs at over 1,000, Fiji has one of the largest and best developed coral reef systems in the Pacific (Zann 1994: 55). These include a variety of types, including fringing reefs, barrier reefs, platform reefs, oceanic ribbon reefs, drowned reefs, atolls and near atolls. The major coral reefs are the Great Sea Reef in Macuata in Vanua Levu, the Coral Coast reef of Viti Levu and the Great Astrolabe Lagoon situated north-east of Kadavu or 70 kilometres south of Suva.

15 Hotspot is a term for areas rich in total number o f species or number o f a particular kind or category o f