The Drawa block forest conservation Project continues to receive praise as a leader in indigenous led conservation efforts following a recent visit by a select number of Pre COP31 delegates.

The Forest conservation Project is a community led initiative involving 8 mataqalis or land-owning units and sits on nearly 4,000 hectares of protected primary forest. This is Fiji’s first verified community-owned REDD+ and carbon trading project which was launched in 2011.

Instead of logging their forest, landowners sell their carbon credits to generate sustainable income.

The delegates included Live & Learn Solomon Islands Carbon and Conservation lead Mr Bill Rerigeto Apusae, Solomon Island Government representatives Mr David Tufi who is the Chief Climate Change Officer-Mitigationand Mr Sammy Airahui who is the National Programmes Coordinator and Secretary for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) National Designated Authority within the Solomon Islands Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Also present were Ms Emmy Primadona who is the Project and Policy Coordinator for the Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI WARSI) and Mr Albert Milala who is a Senior Adaptation Officer at the Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) in Papua New Guinea. They were further supported with the presence of the Country Manager for Live & Learn Papua New Guinea, Ms Rosemary Isicar and Dr. Rakeshni Lata and Ms Sherylin Hassan who are both Pacific Island environmental and climate specialists from Fiji, both of whom work on regional climate resilience and environmental sustainability programs.

The peer-to-peer exchange allowed for representatives of the eight landowning units to be present along with members of the Drawa Block Forest Communities Cooperative (DBFCC) along with Live & Learn Fiji’s REDD+ Coordinator Mr Beato Dulunaqio and Nakau Programme’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Robbie Henderson.

The visiting delegates were able to learn firsthand some of the challenges the landowners themselves had experienced and how they were able to overcome these identified challenges. Speaking on the community’s journey into carbon trading, Mrs Waita Dikica, Business Manager and Committee Member of the Drawa Block Forest Communities Cooperative, told delegates that it took seven years of sustained awareness and consultation to secure the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous landowners before the project went ahead. Mrs Dikica’s presentation also highlighted the benefits the project has brought to different groups within the community.

“I am a committee member and I can tell you that this has been a long journey before we could start trading carbon. Live & Learn Fiji took seven years visiting the villages and landowning units, raising awareness on carbon trading and the importance of preserving our forests. We learnt a lot. For us, the project taught us a lot and empowered us to make decisions not only for us but our future generations. At a personal level as a woman living in the village, my journey with the project has enabled me to now make presentations on behalf of the carbon business – DBFCC to Directors, Executives and even decision makers like iTLTB. From the carbon income received we have set up an education fund, opened three village canteens run by the women of the land-owning units, invested in building community halls and footpaths within the village to allow for easier movement of our community members including the elderly and persons with a disability. We have also supported the purchase of 3 brush cutters for each of the youth groups and their rugby jerseys. The Carbon trading business has helped us preserve our forests and at the same time we are earning a living from it. We employ our youths as forest rangers. They have been upskilled in applying specialist tools to monitor the trees and our forest. All of this has been achieved through our forests.”

Responding to questions on why the Drawa Forest Conservation Forest has been a success despite the challenges, Live & Learn Fiji’s Beato Dulunaqio who has been looking after the REDD+ Drawa Forest Conservation Project for the past 6 years, says that the main motivator has been open dialogue.

“This is a big project and a new one when it was first introduced. For Live & Learn Fiji, we have adopted an approach where we believe that for any Project to be successful, it needs to be community led and that is why we work closely with the whole community. It is all about awareness and being honest instead of promising things which may not eventuate as this will lead to distrust from within the community. For the Drawa Project, we took seven years working closely with stakeholders and the Nakau Programme ensuring that the landowners were included from the start to make decisions on managing their resources such as their forests. This is why we have been able to reach this far.”

Speaking on her experience following the visit, Live & Learn PNG Country Manager, Rosemary Isicar highlighted that they have always heard of the Drawa forest conservation project and seeing it for the first time has been an experience she will never forget. She further added that seeing first-hand how it has brought about sustainable benefits to the land-owning units has provided them with a pathway to work with their communities and to also advocate for such projects back in Papua New Guinea. She further added that seeing the canteen in Drawa village and listening to how the women manage the canteen has provided useful insights for community projects in areas where they can work for equitable participation.

In rounding off their visit, Sherylin Hassan praised the diligence and support shown by the young forest rangers as well as the landowning units adding that their work is making headways both nationally and internationally; not only as Fiji’s first community-owned REDD+ carbon trading project but is also a success story in Nature based Solutions to climate change, adding that Drawa Forest is one of Fiji’s largest Nature based Solutions (NbS) initiative.

Live & Learn Environmental Education Fiji and the Nakau Programme have supported the Drawa Block Forest Communities Cooperative since the project’s early development, with Live & Learn Fiji coordinating the partnership in Fiji with the DBFCC and Nakau providing technical support for the sale of carbon credits on the international market.

Source: Love & Learn Fiji