What started as a dream came into fruition following the successful opening of the Ideal Drawa Eco Retreat in Drawa village by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Villiame Gavoka on Thursday 21st May, 2026.

The three-room eco retreat is situated in Drawa village and is part of the Drawa Block Forest Committee Co-operative (DBFCC) vision to empower the eight mataqalis (clans) who have given up their indigenous forests for conservation and carbon trading.

Speaking at the opening of the retreat, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Villiame Gavoka praised the vision of the village stressing that their accomplishment and vision speaks true of the perseverance and determination of the Vanua.

“Drawa is a place of extraordinary setting – you are showing everyone that development and conservation can go hand in hand. Thank you for continuing to protect your forests and guide your vanua.  Drawa is one of Fiji’s largest conservation areas and this is not a small achievement. You are showing everyone that rural communities are capable of shaping international solutions to climate change. You are not changing who you are, you are building up who you are and protecting your Vanua. This is a successful community led model where you are developing tourism without compromising your beliefs and also protecting your environment.”

Chairman of the DBFCC Peni Maisiri also spoke highly of the commitment of the eight mataqalis adding that when they were approached to start carbon trading, it was a new concept for them. However, seeing the returns has motivated them.

“When we first heard of carbon trading, we thought that the fresh forest air would be shipped off to other countries as carbon trading was a new concept to us. However, through the years we have come to understand and protect our forests. We started off with 10 mataqalis back in 2011 and then 2 withdrew as they wanted to log their area. Over the years, we have seen the benefit not only financially but also the land as well. We have 10 rangers who go and check the trees every so often and we have taken a community approach to everything. This retreat started through simple dialogue with the whole village where we discussed allowing visitors to visit the Drawa forest. Today, from just visiting the forest, we now have an Eco retreat where people can come and sleep as well.”

The Ideal Drawa Eco Retreat is run by a husband and wife team who are also from Drawa as they train the community members to eventually take over operations. The Eco retreat is a spin off from the Drawa Forest Project which is Fiji’s first verified community-owned forest carbon and conservation initiative. It enables indigenous landowners to legally protect their rainforests in exchange for selling carbon credits rather than allowing commercial logging.

The Drawa forest project which is a partnership between the Drawa Block Forest Community Cooperative, Live & Learn Fiji and the Nakau Programme, has seen the mataqalis undergo essential livelihood and financial literacy training. These trainings have seen households secure alternative income generation as well as seen the set up of women-led enterprises, honey production and youth initiatives.

Written by: Paradise Tabucala