Reviving tradition key to fighting climate change

Fiji must revive traditional wisdom and community action to withstand climate change and protect future generations.

This was the message of the Leibniz Centre postdoctoral researcher, Salanieta Kitolelei at the Na Vuku ni Vanua, Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge Conference at Fiji National University Namaka campus in Nadi this week.

Ms Kitolelei urged Fijians to reconnect with their environment and respect indigenous practices as key to resilience. She said elders described climate change, not as sea level rise, but as roots of trees being exposed and coastal resources lost.

“Such observations passed down in local languages reveal how people once lived in harmony with nature and disconnection from our environment fuels exploitation,” she said.

Ms Kitolelei said her research showed how villagers combined science and traditional knowledge to adapt.

“In Yasawa, resilient houses are built by traditional craftsmen who understand the land and weather.

“Women there and also in some parts of Fiji are re-establishing lost crop varieties and setting up a seed bank to safeguard food security,” she said.

University of the South Pacific (USP), deputy head of the school of education, Rosiana Lagi said important traditional knowledge is vanishing just as climate threats intensified.

“We must sit with our elders and listen to the environment to navigate today’s issues while preserving vanua (land) knowledge as it is as critical as modern engineering solutions.”

Ms Lagi said communities that still embraced the solesolevaki (working collectively) tradition to identify problems and test solutions were showing resilience.

“Villagers monitor changes, review results and hold veitalanoa (community dialogues) to adjust their strategies and this social capital strengthens both environmental and social stability,” she said.

The heartbeat of Fiji is the vanua and losing it means losing who we are and how we endure.

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