Fiji

FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
The distribution of losses (F$ million) for each division is shown in Figure 33.
300
250
Losses (F$ million)
200
150
100
50
0
Western Western Western Western
Figure 33: Losses to the Environment Sector by Division
Source: Estimations by Assessment Team.
Native forests Mangrove Coral reefs
Social Impact of Damage and Losses
Damage to the ecosystem and the services it provides is already affecting people (Box 1), and the impacts are likely to
continue for at least a decade. Recovery efforts are aimed at reducing the timeframes of these impacts while supporting
the recovery of ecosystem services and meeting some of the livelihood needs.
Box 1: Damage to Reef: Changing lives and livelihoods of people
The village of Namatala in Ra Province is a small typical coastal village with 24 households and 114 people that rely on fishing for their
protein and cash income. TC Winston brought a lot of changes; the channels used to canoe through are now peppered with one
metre tall “boulders” of coral, deposited by the storm surge generated by the cyclone. One of these boulders is 20m by 3m and has
formed an island of dead coral mixed with shells unknown to people in the village, although they suspect these were lifted from deep
waters. Half of the coral reef that is home to the fish they catch is damaged; coastline that was previously fine sand is now littered with
rocks and coral “boulders”; the deeper waters are shallower; and their two fishing grounds were completely destroyed. The routes
to the fishing areas, which were so well known to the community that they could be traversed at night without fear, have drastically
changed. Following TC Winston, sea cucumbers, eels and other fish lay dead on the beaches, floated on the surface of the water and
were deposited deep into the mangrove areas. The lives and the livelihoods of the people of Namatala village are now very uncertain.
Recovery and Reconstruction Needs for the Environment (F$74 million)
Total needs are estimated at F$73.9 million (Table 68). For effective recovery of environmental assets, a number of activities
that build on ongoing programmes as well as some new ones are proposed and costed. Many of these translate into
additional operational costs, such as those incurred in the management and control of invasive tree species like the African
tulip. To enable coral reefs to rehabilitate and recover for the first two years, pressure on inshore fisheries must be reduced
and interventions like the deployment of FADs will help provide alternative food and protein sources to communities. An
ecological survey of damaged areas (for all environmental assets) and the sustained monitoring of information on the status
of assets in the medium to long term are recommended. The establishment of a government centralized database to
maintain and regularly update information and data is pivotal to recovery efforts and should be supported by community
partners, NGOs and academia, where relevant.
Interventions for clearing debris will differ in cities, villages and agricultural areas, both in terms of methodology and
equipment needed. Special treatment for hazardous wastes is critical and must be supported accordingly.
98 Tropical Cyclone Winston, February 20, 2016