Two Fiji Sago palm restoration sites have been selected as part of NFMV’s Sago palm project for 2012.
As part of MV03F- Sago Palm restoration project funded by the Food and Agricultural Association (FAO), two potential sites have been identified for restoration of the degraded natural Sago palm stands present at the sites, Wainawa (south-east Viti Levu) and Savarekareka (south-east Vanua Levu).
The final selection for the restoration work will be based on the communities responsiveness to the preliminary awareness and training workshops.
The site at Savarekareka is along the main road and must have once had a thriving population of Fiji sago palms. It has become badly degraded and is almost over-run with invasive grasses and other weedy species.
The site at Wainawa is close to the village and will be easily monitorable by the villagers. The community itself has initiated contact with NFMV, seeking guidance and financial support for its own development ideas.
The mataqali, Sovi, from Wainawa Village owns a large area of degraded forest and grassland, parts of which overlap with Birdlife International’s IBA FJ09.
The land for the restoration site belongs to the mataqali and they are very keen on beginning the restoration project, which will involve setting up a sago seedling nursery and transplanting saplings onto the designated area.
The project will be developed according to the experiences and lessons learnt in the pilot project at Culanuku Village, Serua Province.