Taveuni, known as the Garden Island was my second stop in in this beautiful country, Fiji. Taveuni is the country’s third largest island. This island is suitably named for its luscious rainforests and garden like scenery every where you look! Taveuni is not only famous for its island beauty above the water, but also for its neighbouring reef, which is also like a magical underwater garden! The Rainbow Reef, in the Somosomo Straight is a world famous reef ecosystem that attracts divers from all around the world. People come here to see an array of healthy, colourful corals, and are not let down! This reef really does live up to its name!
During my time here, I was working with Taveuni Ocean Sports. The owner of this dive shop, Julie Kelly, really pushes ocean conservation and has initiated programs to help promote the protection of the local reefs. A particular passion of mine is to educate developing communities on the importance of ocean conservation and the need to protect local reefs. Developing countries don’t have access to the same resources and educational tools that most developed countries do, and with the current threats to our oceans it’s becoming increasingly important to spread awareness of sustainable practices and minimise destructive habits.
Julie has started a marine education program, focusing on the children and younger generations of the surrounding villages in Taveuni. Our younger generations truly hold the future of our oceans in their hands, so it’s important to educate them and change their perspective of our oceans. I was lucky enough to help out on some of these programs! We would take a group of kids out to one of the islands and give some marine talks about different types of corals and keystone marine species in their local oceans, and also about how they can help make a difference! We would then do a short beach clean up to remove any plastic and rubbish that had washed up, and talk about what we found and why it’s bad for the ocean.
After that, we headed to Rainbow Reef for a snorkel to point out some of the marine creatures we just talked about. For most of these kids, it’s their first time seeing the reef underwater, even though they live right next to it! Being able to see their eyes light up as they witness natures underwater beauty was enlightening, and knowing that we had planted a seed in their young minds that will hopefully result in them making different choices in the future reminded me why I love what I do.
Julie and her family also started the annual Tagimoucia Festival in 2013. They use music and dance to represent the variety of colours of the rainbow reef that makes it, and Fiji so special. It brings not only local villages together, but also tourists, and pushes conservation and the motto ‘Keep Taveuni Clean’. If you ever get the chance, you should head over to Taveuni around September/October one year to check it out!
I feel so privileged to have been able to dive at this amazing location and participate in these programs, it’s something that I’ll remember for a lifetime! I’m going to miss seeing the amazing coral and abundant fish life here everyday! But I’ll be back!
