Four years left for Fiji to meet biodiversity targets, warns Tabuya

Fiji has just four years left to meet its global biodiversity commitments, and the clock is ticking.

That was the urgent message from Minister for Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya yesterday as she opened the National Inception Workshop for Fiji's Seventh National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Yatu Lau Hotel in Suva.

The report, which Fiji is required to submit to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a global agreement aimed at protecting nature, will measure how well the country is progressing against targets it has already committed to internationally.

"We cannot afford delays anymore," Ms Tabuya told the gathering of government ministries, non-governmental organisations, and community groups.

"We cannot afford to be fragmented. And we certainly cannot treat this report as just ticking the box."

Ms Tabuya said biodiversity – the variety of plants, animals, and ecosystems that make up Fiji's natural environment, was not a distant concern but something every Fijian relied on daily.

"It's about putting food on the table. It's about the water in our homes. It's about the protection of our villages and communities from extreme weather."

She also raised alarm over the illegal trafficking of Fiji's native iguanas, which appear on the country's currency.

"Our Fiji crested iguana and Fiji banded iguana have been taken from our shores and trafficked illegally. This is unacceptable."

The minister also highlighted the link between waste, flooding, and biodiversity loss in informal settlements – drawing on her own upbringing in Nasinu and called for government ministries to stop working in silos.

Fiji has already endorsed its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2026–2030 and policies on invasive species and genetic resources as part of its nature-positive roadmap.

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