Community-led coral reef restoration: Piloting a Nature-based solution to climate change in Fiji, PNG and other Pacific Island countries
The project will support young indigenous scientists from six PICs and community leaders from Fiji (Malolo) and PNG (Yule Island) to help restore compromised reef ecosystems (and linked mangrove habitats) and maintain the protective climate-related services they provide as a key Nature-based solution. This will be facilitated through climate adaptation training focusing on:
- Propagation of heat tolerant corals in established nurseries
- Local Marine Management Areas (LMMA)
- Improved local breed chicken keeping as an alternative livelihood and food source
What are we doing?
Building capacity to prevent the degradation and collapse of coral reef ecosystems in the face of climate change by applying a community-led, nature-based climate change adaptation solution in key Pacific Island Countries.
40 marine science graduates and community-based participants will be trained in:
- Identifying and propagating bleaching-resistant corals or ‘super corals.’
- Coral garden nursery establishment
- Improved local breed chicken keeping training for communities
- Community-based LMMA management
- Mangrove planting and restoration
More importantly, why?
- Bleaching resistant corals saved from further local decline and used to facilitate and accelerate natural adaptive processes to climate change.
- Reduced human pressure on reef habitats through alternative livelihoods training like improved village chicken keeping/production.
- Future livelihood opportunities established through the nature-based solution.
- Sustained and meaningful engagement with women, youth, marginalised people, and vulnerable groups.
Will this work contribute to ongoing change?
This program is part of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded World Wildlife Fund Climate Resilient by Nature (CRxN) Australia-Pacific Nature-based Solutions Challenge.
Our existing coral gardening and village chicken keeping model aligns well with CRxN’s vision of:
Win-win solutions that involve protecting, restoring and sustainably managing ecosystems to address society’s challenges and promote human well-being.
We believe this approach, and CRxN’s strong participatory community-based focus, will ensure positive, sustained outcomes for climate impacted communities in the Pacific. We will also contribute to a multi-partner learning platform, the Climate Resilient by Nature Indo-Pacific Knowledge Hub, with Pacific-based video learning modules (produced by Give Media) to create a sustainable resource for future climate adaptation training.
This project is supported by the Australian Government and WWF-Australia through Climate Resilient by Nature (CRxN). CRxN is a new initiative advancing equitable nature-based solutions to climate change in the Indo-Pacific. CRxN supports projects that work with communities to restore and protect critical ecosystems, build sustainable livelihoods, and increase resilience to climate shocks.
Our partners
We measure our outcomes against indicators set out for the specific globally recognised sustainable development goals for 2030
