Our natural protectors

How the Drawa community in Fiji found protection and opportunity in the rainforest

By Nakau

December 16^th, 2022

As climate impacts and economic pressures intensify, the Drawa community on Vanua Levu in Fiji has found protection and opportunity in the healthy rainforests that surrounds it.

It’s hard to imagine the string of villages that comprise the Drawa Forest Block were hit by a category five cyclone less than three years ago. Everything looks in place — houses are flanked by food gardens, beehives and tropical rainforests.

Down by the river, women and men fish from a clear rainforest river. Forest Ranger, Jerry Lotawa, points out native trees that provide forest fruit for the community.

“That tree over there, it bears a fruit called ivi … we eat it and sell it at the market … and the roots from that tree are protecting the riverbank,” he explains.

Jerry is a Lead Ranger with the Drawa Block Forest Communities Cooperative on Vanua Levu Island in Fiji — a collective of forest-dependent villages and one of the first Pacific communities to apply the Nakau methodology and establish a successful forest carbon credit project.

Along with his team of local Rangers, Jerry’s job is to protect and monitor the rainforest around Drawa, and measure the trees for carbon accounting and reporting.

“The forest, it provides for the village in terms of food — prawns, eels, fish, seeds, fruit — and also clean water for drinking,” he says.

Cyclone Yasa did hit here in December 2020, the eye of the cyclone went right over Drawa’s villages. Homes, infrastructure and food sources were heavily impacted.

“When the cyclone came, it really affected the villages ... really hit the Drawa block hard,” says Mr Peni Maisiri, Chairman of the Drawa Block Forest Communities Cooperative.

“[The community] depended on fishing grounds that were intact because their fishing grounds were in the forest. That’s what provided them with nutrition after the cyclone. When you leave your forest in-tact it brings a lot of things to the community, even our fresh air in the village.”

Beato Dulunaqio is a Senior REDD+ Project Officer with Live & Learn Fiji — Nakau’s key local partner on the Drawa project. He also remembers how, after Yasa, the Drawa community relied on the surrounding forest. The forest had been hit by the cyclone as well but withstood much of the damage and recovered quickly.

"Towns and supermarkets were inaccessible. [The community had the ability to gather food from the forest and they had access to water," Beato explains. [The forest] also prevented flooding that could have really affected the community."

Forest as a provider — Carbon trading and honey making

The importance of healthy ecosystems that protect people from increasing climate-driven storms, and provide food and water in the aftermath, is well evidenced. But ecosystems like the Drawa forest are being traded for short-term income gain, at great cost to long-term climate, cultural, economic and social resilience.

This could have easily been Drawa’s story. Before they decided to give forest carbon a try, logging coupes had been mapped and Drawa communities were starting to clear forest for timber. But just when they were faced with losing their forest for good, Drawa’s eight mataqali (clan groups) made a last-ditch effort to save it.

“Before they decided to try forest carbon, Drawa was starting to clear forest for timber.”

The mataqali worked together to form the Forest Community Cooperative and started the carbon trading project with Nakau and Live & Learn Fiji.

Ten years later and forest carbon credits are now a significant income source, the forest is still standing and the community have established a rainforest honey business as an alternative enterprise to grow community development in a nature-positive way.

As outlined in the Nakau methodology, women’s savings groups were established in each of the mataqalis so women receive equal income from the carbon project and have ownership in how to reinvest it. Right now their choice is investing in the honey business, which some of the women-led groups have been harvesting to sell at local markets.

In Navaralagi and Lutukina villages, women recently gathered to talk about how the honey business and forest carbon have worked together to benefit them.

“The honey business is very helpful, in terms of contributing to the finances at home,” says Sainimili from Navaralagi mataqali.

“To get the honey, we wear honey suits, and a smoker, gloves and boots to keep them safe. The Drawa Block Community Forest Cooperative help us access market.”

Members from the Lutukina Women’s Group share similar perspectives.

“Both the honey business and the carbon benefits has changed the mindset for us in the village,” says Lonisa Rokodua.

“One of the opportunities that we women look at is to upgrade our toilet facilities ... some of the families did not have sanitation, but with the carbon sales we women are slowly building flush toilets in the community. We can say this really helps our families.”

Waita Curuvale is the Business Manager of the Drawa project. Her role is to support each of the women’s groups and ensure the income from credit sales is properly shared.

“Many things are done by women. They really appreciate the benefits coming from the project,” she says. “Looking at our forest within the Drawa block, learning how to preserve and safekeep it — with our people also benefiting from it monetarily — has enabled us to think differently about the importance of conserving our forest.”

“I want to say my appreciation and thank you to the buyers of the Drawa carbon credits. We have benefitted a lot … all villagers have benefitted from the sale of carbon.”

There have been other positives for women and families from the project too: access to a bank account and scholarships for school fees and school equipment to help more children have a better learning experience. And the building of helpful network pathways where women can have greater voice and agency with local government representatives and other NGOs working in the area.

Like any project, there is also lots of learning and room to improve. Nakau and Live & Learn Fiji plan to bring finance and governance training to the women’s groups to help make their honey business more profitable, and help establish new ventures that can diversify income and skills.

Much has changed for communities in the Pacific region. How they live is not exactly the same as it was for their ancestors. But the legacy of the forest continues to protect and provide, even if in a new way.

“If there wasn't a Drawa project, the landowners would have given up their land for logging,” believes Beato.

Jerry agrees and adds that “if there was no [forest carbon] project for Drawa, the attitude between the people of Drawa towards our forest would be different.”

“The project brought a new idea to the people of Drawa in how they manage their forests to minimise the cutting down and burning of trees. It's a change in attitude towards the environment.”

The Drawa Rainforest Conservation Project is a partnership between the Drawa Block Forest Community Cooperative, the Nakau Programme and Live and Learn Environmental Education.