FIJI (9 June 2003) -- Seacology, a nongovernmental organization based in Berkeley, California, plans to unveil three community projects in Fiji later this month as part of an agreement to protect the Fiji environment. Seacology specializes in projects where island villages receive a tangible benefit in return for making a sacrifice on behalf of the environment. The projects include: - In Waibalavu, Viti Levu, Seacology provided the funds for a community center in exchange for the permanent protection of a 792-acre rainforest.
- In Nasigasiga, Vanua Levu, Seacology provided a water tank and water delivery system in exchange for the protection of 332 acres of rainforest.
- In Yasawa I Rara, Yasawa Island, Seacology built a community center in exchange for an agreement not to sell or develop two small islands, and the declaration of a "no-fishing" reserve between these two islands.
| | A delegation of Seacology board members will be in Fiji to visit these villages for the official openings of these projects. Seacology was founded by world-renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Paul Alan Cox, who is currently chairman of the board of directors. Cox, whose work on behalf of islands and islanders has been covered in TIME, National Geographic and Islands Magazine, is the recipient of a Goldman Environmental Prize. In Samoa, Seacology recently built a school in the remote village of Falealupo in exchange for the village chiefs signing a covenant protecting 30,000 acres of pristine rainforest. SOURCE - PIR |
