Villagers Revisit Traditional Practices For Sustainable Living

Ten Villages from the district of Kubulau in Bua attended a traditional sustainable envi­ronment workshop focusing on the Re-Weaving of the Ecological Mat (REM) project.

Held in Namalata Village, the workshop was coordinated by the Pacific Conference of Churches in part­nership with the Uto Ni Yalo Trust and the Bua Urban Youth.

Project youth leader Maima Vaai said the workshop focused on revisiting old traditional practices of sustainable liv­ing and how best their environment could be conserved.

Traditional practices included the conservational fishing methods used, traditional seafaring, how to source traditional medicines from the environ­ment and how to survive from sustaina­ble means of environment engagement.

Ms Vaai said they want to revive the traditional knowledge, skills, and prac­tices by which villagers can help to re­store their environment.

“Each traditional practice can be re­vived, and this could help to mitigate the current climate change and re­source depreciation effects,” she said.

She said they would be able to identify ways in which some traditional envi­ronmental practices like conserving their fishing grounds and using tradi­tional methods for fishing would help to prevent a shortage of seafood.

She said the Uto Ni Yalo Trust con­ducted traditional seafaring practices to educate and encourage villagers on the importance of traditional sea stew­ardship.

Uluinasuva Villager Selaima Dikawa said the workshop was an informative means of learning the traditional sus­tainable ways of supporting their liveli­hood.

“This workshop is like a blessing be­cause it’s the first time we are being told the importance of conserving our tradi­tional knowledge and culture to survive and manage our environment well,” she said. The workshop ends today.