Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA)
Conservation – Education – Community – Future
Category: Latest News
Coral Reef Monitoring: finding hope
In October, project activities included monitoring the coral reef habitats within the Vava’u Archipelago, with this the 5th consecutive year following on from the “Rapid Assessment of Biodiversity of Vava’u (BioRAP)” in 2014 through Government of Tonga and Secretariat of…
Read MoreS.E.A Program Coming Soon……
Under the Vava’u Ocean Initiative in partnership with the Waitt Institute and Ministry of Fisheries, we are excited and delighted for the upcoming launch of the Special Management Area (SMA) Environmental Ambassador Program (S.E.A). Special Management Areas (SMAs) are a…
Read MoreThorn in our Side….
Well actually the thorns mostly hit our fingers and for many of us the memories of the week stay in the tingling tips of our fingers. What were we up to? Removing those nasty, spine heavy starfish called Crown of…
Read MorePart 1: Overview – Near-shore, Vava’u
Up until the 1990’s, ocean areas within Tonga were declared as open access for all Tongans, in the hopes of allowing everyone equal and fair sharing of its resources. Over the years this caused a serious downfall in the status…
Read MoreBeyond the Reef: Ocean Areas
Malo e lelei we are excited to introduce a new Ocean themed awareness campaign that will be soothing the radio waves over the next few months as well as being posted on bogs and websites. In order to ensure the…
Read MoreFakamuna- An interview with nQako Concepts.
Story and photos by Aneira Hasson…. “I chose this design based on what Tongan’s call ‘tauhi vā’, which is the idea of special awareness. The coconut leaves of the structure are bound – similar to how a traditional Tongan house…
Read MoreCultural Food Preperation
Coastal fisheries are critically important to community livelihoods and reef habitat health. Programs such as community managed reefs (SMAs) are being developed to provide benefits to both biodiversity and livelihoods. In Tonga, many communities still practice traditional food preservation methods;…
Read MoreExploring the marine resources of Tonga
In May of 2017, a team of international and national marine researchers joined together on board the Yacht Plan b, through the Waitt Institute, to survey the near-shore marine habitats of Ha’apai and Vava’u for the Vava’u Ocean Initiative. The…
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