PABITRA Meeting, Fiji

July 15-19, 2002

Participants

• Harley Manner (PABITRA-Guam)
• Solo Nata (NLTB)
• Jone Niukula (National Trust)
• Manasa Sovaki (Dept. of Environment)
• Leigh-Anne Buliruarua (START-Oceania/APN)
• Craig Morley (USP-Biology Department)
• Etika Rupeni (WWF-Fiji)
• Marika Tuiwawa (USP-South Pacific Regional Herbarium)
• Gunnar Keppel (USP- Biology Department)
• Randy Thaman (USP-Geography Department)
• Bill Aalbersberg (USP-IAS)
• Alifereti Naikatini (USP-IAS)
• Dieter Mueller-Dombois (PABITRA-Hawaii)

(Left to right: Craig Morley, Alifereti Naikatini, Marika Tuiwawa, Roselyn Kumar, Harley Manner, Dieter Mueller-Dombois, Bill Aalbersberg, Leigh-Anne Buliruarua, Solo Nata, Randy Thaman, Manasa Sovaki, Paddy Nunn)

Meeting Activities

Professor Bill Aalbersberg welcomed participants to the meeting.

Participants were then asked to state the expectations of their organizations from the PABITRA meeting:

• IAS - Move towards setting up fieldwork for the project.
• Randy Thaman - Comparison of systems, processes and the interaction of people.  Also interested in the site selection - gateway.
• Harley Manner - To ensure that methods and techniques are transferable to other islands in the Pacific.
• Gunnar Keppel - Supportive of the project and wants to see project moving towards fieldwork.
• National Trust - Collaboration with USP on nature conservation.
• NLTB - Determine how NLTB can cooperate, learn of the project. Also looking at the interests of the native landowners.
• Dept. of Environment - Development of procedures for environmental protection and sustainable use. Also interested in the outcome of PABITRA and how Environment Dept. can fit in collaboration with other institutions.
• APN - Report back to APN.
• Craig Morley - Attract students to monitor and do biodiversity research.
• WWF - Strengthen biodiversity work in terms of conservation. Long term cross-island transect for Fiji.
• Marika - Wants to see more terrestrial ecosystem work particularly in the montane area which is neglected globally.

From the above, there was a general consensus that the project was moving in the right direction and to get the fieldwork component of the project going.

Steps Needed to Operationalize PABITRA

According to APN Program Activities:

• Initial Synthesis Meeting (current meeting) .  Identifying available existing data resources.
• November/December - Joint Meeting. Data is to be compiled by November and background paper is to be presented here.
• March, 2003.  Pacific Science Association (Bangkok)

There was initial reservation about the transect extending from Mt. Tomaniivi to Laucala Bay because of accessibility of certain areas along the transect. However, it was agreed that the transect needs to be located along the area of highest biodiversity, i.e., Southeast of Mt. Tomaniivi.

With reference to the "Criteria for Site Selection" and following discussions on the transect, it was determined that transect and site need to be clarified. Craig Morley was appointed to write up definitions on site and transect.

It was also agreed that the Mt. Tomaniivi is to be the core site for the project and that the site should link to other sites along the transect. Organizations interested in setting up sites could be self-funded.

Involving local communities was identified as important to ensure sustainability in the future, rather than focusing on capacity building in terms of academic research.

Main sites that were identified were:

• Wabu
• Sovi Basin
• Waisoi
• Waibau
• Savura
• Rewa Delat

Data Sources

Options for Inclusion

• Biodiversity Hotspots
• Invasive species
• Conservation development initiatives
• Road/Trails
• Areas of cultural importance
• Disasters/Hazards