Archive for the ‘Fiji Eco Tourism’ Category
Thanks to the huge generousity of friends, family and complete strangers in the last three months, Howard and Zeina have raised a total of £4,735 for Dr. Cara Miller of the International Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society in Fiji. The fundraising auction added nearly £1,300 to our total. We are now only £264 short of our £5,000 target and we hope to hit it in the next two weeks. Zeina and I were thrilled at the positive response to our online auction and would like to thank the incredibly generous people who donated the amazing trips and artwork:
- Global Vision International for the Spinner dolphin project
- Bruno and Marcos at Baleal Surfcamp for their one week learn to surf trip
- Maggie for her Essaouira apartment holiday
- Sam for his surfcamp in Australia
- Philip Hoare for his Humpback print
- Brown Cannon III for his Spinner dolphin print
- The Old House Home Hotel for the one night 5* accommodation package
- SEA LIFE London Aquarium for their Junior Aquarist Day
Well done to the winning bidders and we hope they enjoy the surfing holidays to Portugal and Australia, the amazing two week holiday to Fiji, the week in Morocco, the 5* Hotel break, the Junior Aquarist day and all the beautiful donated artwork!
Watch this space for updates from Fiji and Moon Reef to learn where the money will be spent and put to good use by Dr. Miller to fnd her cetacean research and conservation projects.
South Pacific Projects partner organisation, GVI, has just won the ‘Best Volunteering Organisation’ category at the Virgin responsible travel Awards in London. We congratulate GVI on this prestigious Award and look forward to a long and successful partnership in Fiji. Our partnership kicks off in January 2012 with a new type of Marine Conservation Project in the Yasawa Islands and again in February with an absolutely uniqe new Spinner dolphin research and conservation project.
South Pacific Projects is excited to announce an amazing auction to raise funds for WDCS International. The auction is ON NOW HERE!
http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/whaleofaride
We have gathered together some fantastic experiences, holidays and artwork for you to bid on and we guarantee that you will never see this stuff available on an EBay auction again. South Pacific Projects is raising funds for the International Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society, who we work with to protect Spinner dolphins at Moon Reef in Fiji.
So, what are all these amazing things I can bid on?
- A two week dolphin research & conservation ecotourism experience in Fiji!
- A one week learn to surf holiday in Portugal!
- One week of free family accommodation in the beautiful town of Essaouira, Morocco!
- A signed print of Spinner dolphins by renowned US photographer Brown Cannon III!
- Two places on a surfcamp in a National Park in near Sydney, Australia!
- A signed copy of ‘Leviathan, or The Whale’ by prize winning author, Philip Hoare!
- An exclusively commissioned limited edition print of a Sperm Whale by Philip Hoare!
- Dinner for two and a night in a 5* Hotel!
plus many more lots to bid on!
So get bidding now!
Today Howard and Zeina completed 2,000 miles of their fundraising bike ride across Europe and are about 800 miles from the finish line in Marrakech. We are delighted to announce that Global Vision International has very kindly donated a free place on their new Spinner dolphin Research & Conservation Project in Fiji next year.
South Pacific Projects will be holding a charity auction for this amazing two week dolphin experience, as well as many other exciting donations like a one week surfcamp holiday to Portugal, a PADI Open Water Dive Course, a beautiful signed Spinner dolphin print by American photographer Brown Cannon 3 and much more! Details of the auction will be announced here on the website in coming weeks.
This week, South Pacific Projects sponsor the SEA LIFE London Aquarium held the official opening of their new SPP Fiji Marine Protected Area display tank. South Pacific Projects was there to cut the ribbon and open the display to the public. It was great to meet up with Paul Hale again, Curator of the London Aquarium and a vocal spokesperson for conservation and research. Paul and his team have done a great job with the display and the schoolchildren who were invited to be the first to see the new Fiji display were really excited by all the corals, fish and Giant clams.
The Aquarium is doing a lot of great work to support conservation projects around the world, so please do visit their conservation pages and read about the turtle centre in Greece and some of the other worthwhile projects they support. Later this year when SPP returns to Fiji, we will be working with the Aquarium again to establish the second of what we hope will be a large network of Marine Protected Areas in Fiji. Thanks again to Paul and to Toby Forer, the Aquarium’s General Manager who have both been so enthusiatic with their support for SPPs community-based work in Fiji.
Howard Foster, UK
I’ve been conducting research on spinner dolphins up at Moon Reef for almost 3 years now. During that time we’ve gained some important insights into behaviour, habitat, site-fidelity, and acoustics. Putting these scientific pieces together has led us to consider Moon Reef as a critical resting habitat for a relatively small group of semi-resident dolphins. Additional factors we have discovered through our time at Moon Reef are the important cultural link this pod of dolphins has to local villages – as well as their potential disturbance when boat traffic is increased. It was clear to me that this population would benefit from protection measures and local engagement yet when I considered my job commitments this goal seemed like something that perhaps I wouldn’t have time to work on. This is where Howard stepped in. Through discussions with him we agreed on a plan for South Pacific Projects to assist with data collection throughout the year to provide important baseline information. Furthermore, his engagement with the Fiji Locally Managed Area Network – and the invite (to both of us) to join the newly established local environment group gave significant momentum - and ultimate declaration - of a marine protected area for Moon Reef. Howard’s tireless efforts were instrumental in achieving this significant result. This fundraising bike ride is another indication of South Pacific Project’s commitment to this work. I look forward to continuing to work with both Howard and Zeina in future research efforts, policy initiatives and conservation benefits for spinner dolphins in Fiji.
Dr. Cara Miller – WDCS International
In six weeks time, South Pacific Projects staff Howard Foster and Zeina Saad will be raising money for the International Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society. Their fundraising efforts will centre around a 2,900 mile cycle ride from London to Marrakech. They are starting the cycle ride at the SeaLife London Aquarium, one of SPPs project sponsors in Fiji. Fijian dignitaries and London media are being invited to attend to help raise awareness about whale and dolphin conservation issues globally. They will then ride to Paris and visit the SeaLife Aquarium there and as they travel south through Europe.
Today they took delivery of two bikes to use on their training rides. The bikes were very kindly donated by two of Zeina’s friends, Scott Marinoff and Zeena Fakoury. Scott recently completed a charity challenge fundraiser himself by cycling 545 miles in seven days from San Francisco to Los Angeles for the ‘Aids Life Cycle’. You can follow Zeina and Howard’s progress and make a donation to the International Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society by visiting their blog at: www.whaleofaride.org
Today was the first official meeting of the steering committee for the Dawasamu area. The committee have been deciding on whether to implement a new Marine Protected Area (MPA) at Moon Reef in the North East of Viti Levu at the suggestion of South Pacific Projects and the International Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society. Moon Reef provides a unique environment for a resident pod of Spinner dolphins and becoming an MPA will ensure that the dolphins are left in peace.
The village hosting the meeting is a good couple of hour’s drive from Suva, and started at 9am (Fiji time…). So I travelled over to Suva from Leleuvia the previous day after the morning survey dive. Howard and I left Suva fairly early and got up to Dawasamu in time for the meeting. This meeting was the first time that all of the local Clan Chiefs had gathered together to discuss the proposal, along with representatives from the government and NGOs. It was great to see that all the Clan Chiefs had come along, and that the community was all taking conservation seriously.
After a lot of discussion, and several rounds of Kava (!), the committee announced that they agreed to declare Moon Reef an MPA, which was fantastic news. South Pacific Projects announced that it would provide the necessary funds to support the process of getting the MPA officially recognised. Some of the funding is coming via a kind donation from the SeaLife London Aquarium who have made a commitment to support community managed MPAs with South Pacific Projects in Fiji. After the meeting the community owned Eco-Lodge had lunch ready and waiting for everyone. They had prepared a traditional Lovo feast, including the biggest fish I’d ever seen served up!
It was a great experience to see some of the process in setting up a community managed Marine Protected Area, and how much the local communities were being involved. With MPAs being set up, more of the amazing coral reefs out here will hopefully be protected, and in some cases, restored to their former glory.
David – UK
South Pacific Projects has been educating the children of Uluibau Primary school on marine ecosystems. The group have been visiting the school every Monday from 2:30 – 4:00 pm. The visits are educational and beneficial to the whole community. Educationally, the children are taught on marine ecosystems. Beneficially, the children will encourage others in their community at Daku and Uluibau villages to protect their marine ecosystem, especially the coral reef and the sea community as a whole.
The introduction of new systems of teaching from South Pacific Projects i.e. technology like computers, really motivate the students to learn and thus encourages them as well. Hence, a great attitude of pleasure was vividly shown by each member of the group. We also play fun games with the students and then socialise with each other. Therefore, thank you South Pacific Projects. We’re looking forward to more educational visits in the second term. We always welcome you into our classroom.
Vinaka Vaka Levu!!
Epeli Ligavai – Class 7 & 8 Teacher, Fiji
After seeing some dolphins swim around out boat following a fun dive on Saturday, we couldn’t have been more excited about our day trip to Moon Reef on Sunday! After an early breakfast we sat at the dive shop, hoping the rain would ease up so we could be on our way. With the sun shining we got to see some beautiful small tropical islands and a view of the Viti Levu coastline on the boat ride. We arrived at Natalei-ra with its long black sandy beach and admired the resort and the setting.
After meeting Howard and Zee, we piled onto a big boat and set out for Moon Reef. The water at Moon Reef is incredible! Very clear and beautiful turquoise colors. It was only a matter of minutes before the first Spinner dolphins were sighted and we all marveled at their beauty! We followed the dolphins and attempted to take some good pictures. As well as dolphin watching, we headed over to a patch of coral reef and jumped in for a snorkel. The reef there is beautiful and healthy; alive with a variety of hard and soft coral and lots of little fish. We also saw 3 Whitetip reef sharks! Kat started following one of them…crazy lady!
Round 2 of dolphin spotting began and this time they were jumping and spinning out of the water, putting on a great show for us. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay out there all day, so we waved goodbye to the beautiful creatures and headed back to the mainland for some delicious lunch. Having stuffed ourselves with chicken curry, lamb noodles, egg fried rice and much more, we were all pretty content to laze around in the sun and wait for our ride home. This has to have been one of the best days yet! We were so lucky to be able to see and enjoy the dolphins in their natural habitat!
Emma – UK
This week, South Pacific Projects signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) at their Head Office in the UK. The purpose of this new relationship is to implement a unique research and conservation project with spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in Fiji. Volunteers who take part in the new project will be trained by Dr. Cara Miller who represents WDCS in Fiji and will be accompanied by highly skilled South Pacific Projects staff. Volunteers will assist Dr. Miller by investigating spinner dolphin site fidelity, behaviour and critical habitat. In addition to the research element of the project, volunteers will create an awareness-raising campaign about marine conservation and present it in local schools and communities. Details of this fantastic new opportunity will be published on our wesbite in the next few weeks. South Pacific Projects would like to thank WDCS, particularly Cynthia Walsh and Dr. Miller, for their unwavering support in getting this new project going. We look forward to visiting the dolphins in March and preparing for our first group of dolphin conservation volunteers to arrive!
Howard Foster – Oakland, California
After four months, over 100 dives, a few litres of Kava, a touch of sunburn (an even heavier touch of tropical rain!) and some wonderful memories of time spent with volunteers and our Fijian friends and colleagues, it’s time to get the winter woolies on and head back to the UK to visit family and friends. It’s gratifying to know that through the hard work of our staff team and the contribution of our volunteer groups this year, South Pacific Projects is ready for 2011 with new project partners and new community projects to look forward to. Look out for news of these developments on the website in the New Year. To all of you joining us in February: Kim, Helen, Stefan, Emma, Ashley, Jennifer, Marijn, Kimberley and Mei-Ling (and the other guys who are still thinking about it!) we very much look forward to welcoming you to the project. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year from South Pacific Projects.
Howard Foster – Leleuvia Island, Fiji.