ON a remote, windswept coastline at Togoru on Fiji’s southern coast, Barney Dunn surveys the land his family has occupied for five generations.
In actual fact, it is what is left of the land after the sea has gradually but surely clawed away at up to five acres of the foreshore.
The land on which Barney played as a boy has been submerged by the waves. Three seawalls built in his lifetime have been destroyed and committed to an eternity under water.
Along the shore, erosion has exposed the roots of coconut palms which will share the watery graves of trees which have gone before them.
Barney’s ancestors’ graves are visible at low tide, exposed by the same waters which destroyed the peaceful grassy patch they once occupied.
“Those graves were once on land, now they are in the sea,’’ Barney said.
“Soon, the living and the dead will all be in the sea. This erosion just keeps coming and we are running out of options. To make it worse, the sea temperature is rising every year and our source of income—the fish—are now further from shore.
“We’ve sought help from the government, from nongovernmental organisations but there are so many obstacles.’’
Listening to Barney’s tale are members of a global partners roundtable of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.
From Cuba, Jamaica, Fiji, Palestine, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe, the members are visibly concerned and shocked.
For some, this is their second time at Togoru and they can see the changes to the coastline.
“We admire the resilience of the community in the face of this adversity,’’ said group coordinator, Philip Woods.
“But it is clear that they face a clear and present danger. We hope to be able to help Barney and his people in a meaningful way.’’
The needs of the Togoru people are simple and achievable at a practical level.
Conservative estimates put coastal rehabilitation costs at around $FJD8.5 million, according to Government surveyors and land experts who have visited the site.
Barney believes the community can begin rehabilitation work and regain some of the land with minimal help.
“We can start with 600 tyres and bury them using sand and rocks from the foreshore,’’ Barney said.
“The current here runs from the west to the east. If we lay the tyres in a north-south direction, the waves should pile the sand around this artificial wall. When the sand builds up, we plant coconut trees and start fighting back.’’
Barney may not have an engineering degree, but 50 years of observation and local knowledge US$2000 him to believe that reclamation using nature and a helping hand from tyres, boulders and fallen trees, will do the trick.
“The waves have taken the sand and deposited it on the far side of our property,” Barney said.
“What was once part of the river mouth is closed because the sand from the front of the property has filled that gap. If we put a series of walls perpendicular to the shore, we will regain our land.’’
This is where the Presbyterian Church USA has decided to join the fight and help carry the burden of the Togoru people.
A grant of US$2000 will help Barney and the community begin the initial phase of reclamation by buying used tyres, transporting them to Togoru, and hiring local labour.
