Mining operations in Bua are causing serious harm to coastal ecosystems, as highlighted by Margaret Vakalalabure, the manager of the World Wildlife Fund Fiji’s Coral Reef Rescue Initiative. Vakalalabure reported that certain communities in Bua are experiencing severe soil degradation due to bauxite mining activities.
She noted that the communities are facing significant impacts from the extraction processes, particularly concerning their coastal ecosystems. During a workshop organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society, she mentioned that much of the soil runoff is negatively affecting their traditional fishing grounds.
“The communities have truly experienced the repercussions of these ecological changes,” she stated, emphasizing that the mining activities have devastated vital local resources such as mud crabs and fish.
“This represents a cultural loss for them since these areas are their ancestral fishing grounds,” she added. Vakalalabure pointed out that the removal of mangrove trees, which serve as natural barriers against tidal surges, is a contributing factor to these challenges.
“A significant number of mangroves have been cleared to facilitate road construction, factories, and new homes,” she explained. This issue extends beyond Bua to other communities as well, where some are facing tidal wave impacts linked to the loss of these critical mangrove forests due to development initiatives.
Vakalalabure emphasized the scale of the problem, stating that around 30 million hectares of mangroves have disappeared in Fiji since the 1970s.