Page 44 - IB December 2023

People

Indonesia Programme made a policy change to ensure that to a sponsored voluntary movement of internal migrants
local communities’ voices were included in its development who were keen to access areas of farmland. Again, his belief
plans. that communities should be consulted was of paramount
importance to this process.
Returning to Fiji Later he worked in Malaysia, helping the Department of
After Indonesia, Dr Watling returned to Fiji in 1982 and Environment draw up their EIA Guidelines and at the same
joined his erstwhile guardian, Murray Charters, in the business time, he established an environmental section for a large
they called Aqua Foods Fiji, to commercially raise Tilapia fish engineering firm, which currently operates as ‘Environment
in two ponds at Vuda Point. This proved to be uneconomical, Asia’.
so with partners, they expanded the site into Vuda Marina; A major project in 1992-1993 was to head the IUCN team,
it has now become a landmark in the west of Viti Levu, Fiji’s which prepared the Fiji: State of the Environment Report
main island. and its follow-up, the National Environment Strategy for
During this period, Dr Watling began his consulting career Fiji. These proved the forerunners for Fiji’s Department of
and registered Environment Consultants Fiji Ltd. Two initial Environment and was essentially a baseline action plan that
consultancies included assisting with an EIA of the Tropic addressed the country’s environmental concerns.
Wood Mill and the start of the pine industry. Another was Throughout this period, Fiji’s mangroves have been a
a development plan for the conservation and recreational subject of great interest. In 1985-1986, following an outcry
development of Vaturu Dam, something which never saw the against mangrove losses in a World Bank project, Watling
light of day. produced the initial Mangrove Management Plan for Fiji. He
Nearly all of his early consulting work was with multilateral was commissioned to prepare a new plan in 2013 for the
organisations in South East Asia and Pacific Islands. Department of Lands. However very little had changed in
As a tropical forest biodiversity specialist, Watling worked mangrove management and the 2013 plan was not endorsed
with the Indonesian transmigration programme of moving by government. He has recently followed this up by preparing
people to its outer islands. It was a period of change, with updated Mangrove Planting Guidelines for Fiji.
detailed initial selection of receiving sites and with greater
appreciation of biodiversity losses and local community The Way Forward
impacts. Dr Watling says that NatureFiji-MareqetiViti has brought him
His efforts helped change a forced migration methodology back to conservation and redirected his energies away from
consultancies. When he received his international award from
IUCN, his letter of thanks to the executive included strong
recommendations that provided a clear road map for the
TRADE MARK CAUTIONARY NOTICE
future success of conservation programmes.
IN MICRONESIA “We need to move away from a project-by-project
approach – identify the areas of high biodiversity that need
CFA INSTITUTE, a Virginian corporation, of 915 East
High Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902, United conserving, identify the appropriate structures that involve
States of America, does hereby provide notice that it resource owners fully in their management that can support
claims proprietorship of the trade mark conservation priorities, and design appropriate financing
mechanisms that support these structures through long-term
GIPS finance from multiple sources and partnerships, and we need
new and additional sources of finance, including through
in relation to: partnerships with the private sector.
“We need to grow a young and knowledgeable conservation
Association services, namely, promoting the interests
of financial analysts by developing standards and constituency, schooled with field and marine experience
practices to promote uniformity in reporting investment rather than social media hype. Our current young
performance. conservationists strive to impact but are mostly inhibited by
their small number and lack of opportunities to progress,”
CFA INSTITUTE cautions that any use of the trade mark said Dr Watling.
or any confusingly similar trade mark in relation to any With a lifetime that has been devoted to outcome-oriented
of these services or similar services, would be seen as
infringement of their rights and that they will take such applied conservation biology, all of Watling’s initiatives,
action deemed necessary to protect those rights. whether mangrove, forest or bird conservation, protected
areas establishment and management, tourism resort
CFA INSTITUTE can be contacted care of their address planning, invasive species management or environmental
for service: education, are being maintained and continued to be
spearheaded by NatureFiji-MareqetiViti and a cadre of
AJ Park, Level 22, Aon Centre, 1 Willis Street,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand, mail@ajpark.com young professionals who will ensure that Dr Watling’s legacy
endures.
editor@islandsbusiness.com

44 Islands Business, December 2023