Fiji: The Last Resort - The Villages in Paradise Being Swallowed by the Sea | Foreign Correspondent

I take off the jeans at first glance, life is quite sweet, almost a hundred people live here in a communal lifestyle. Tourism with kings and homestays brings in some cash, but, as Bernie Dongaloa discovered before them, sea levels are rising. unstoppable weave world in the year 2000 a seawall on one side of the island kept the island safe, but now the ocean often floods over it, this is low tide right now, yes, before this seawall was healed, what did this look like? actually Beach here or what was it uh They were telling me that there was a white beaches center in maybe somewhere Just about five meters from here 10 minutes from here Okay, this used to be built on a beach and now it's built on a wall on wall so when you were a kid it flooded um not just over the

last

few years yeah Tucson has been recording some of the flooding what's happening now salt poisons the ground after storms and cyclones they need canoes to get around The people are becoming more extreme, they are fighting to contain the sea on the other side of the island as well.

This is the real Mission area, so what we did was go down big rocks. Before it was working, but now, as you can see the water is still coming in, you can sit here and you know this is a ground level mark. and now it is starting to decline again and they have planted some mangroves as a buffer against storm surges but it will be six years before they start to make a difference and if it is fast enough to protect the island it may be, it may also not be who are running out of ways to adapt to rising seas. and I can't save it even forever, the government identified Sarua Village for relocation in 2018.

Some moved to the mainland, but the majority of the community decided to stay. I just want to stay here on the island, yeah, because you know this is their identity. is identifying within this. The identity of The Village is not only linked to the land but also to the sea and this too is under threat. So what are we looking for? We're looking for a Cam layout, have you ever seen a Jenga here? Fiji uh you'll see, you'll see, I'll see, okay, except I'm going in on the first day, yeah, don't worry, they're stuck here, they're vegetarians, so you don't have to worry about sharks. true yes they are very friendly just like restless people okay okay the giant clams in Fiji have come back from near extinction if they are protected from predators and humans they can live a hundred years but warming of water temperature may finally spell the end. and there is not much the local custodians can do about it, moving abroad has become even more difficult because they are tied to the spirits of their ancestors, who still guide them to see, yes, are you considering moving?, are you analyzing the options if we can move? our spirit he was on the island only our body will be taken out of this you will always return to this house you will always return but I don't want to leave this area because it is Paradise, it is my homeland and most of my ancestors have died and buried on this island too, the blessings are fine, so we have to respect that moving from a village has a cost in dollars and can be counted, but breaking such strong cultural ties is impossible to measure.

The village leaders know that moving is inevitable and breaking down. their hearts or us are usually sold in vain and when 2 million but we have no choice that is running and the weather has changed the weather pattern is changing everything has changed however we love this island from the bottom of our hearts but I think we are the victims From the largest country we start with what is happening now in this world. There is no fairy tale ending for Fiji and the people of the South Pacific face painful and costly changes and the big question remains: who will pay for it?

Those who created the problem. or those who are left to face its consequences okay, let's go