The Foundation helped our partners at the Pacific Blue Foundation launch the first monitoring pilot study in Beqa Lagoon, Fiji. Through this pilot study, we are trying to determine if we can use diver-collected reef transect photos as a cost-effective monitoring technique for rapidly measuring the state of coral reefs at larger scales. The first test sites are in Beqa Lagoon near the Rukua Village, which has several traditional protection areas. These areas have historically been managed locally by community members to help keep fishing pressure and coral reef damage to a minimum. However, there have not been sufficient monitoring protocols to evaluate how these managed areas are faring.

The Rukua village pilot study is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life Below Water and is also an important component of the foundation’s UN Ocean Decade Project, Science Without Borders®: Conserving the Tropics. This program works closely with communities in small island nations and least developed states to protect them and manage their coral reefs and connected marine ecosystems. The program is addressing a critical need to sustainably protect and manage these ecosystems, especially in low-lying coastal areas that greatly depend on the ocean for coastal protection and their overall livelihoods.