Fijian culture and the environment: a focus on the ecological and social interconnectedness of tourism development

Movono, Apisalome and Dahles, Heidi and Becken, Susanne (2017) Fijian culture and the environment: a focus on the ecological and social interconnectedness of tourism development. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, TBC . TBC. ISSN 0966-9582

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Abstract

Understanding the complex and adaptive nature of Pacific Island
communities is a growing yet relatively unexplored area in the context of
tourism development. Taking an ethnographic research approach, this
study examines how over 40 years of tourism development have led to
complex and multi-scale changes within an Indigenous Fijian village. The
study establishes that tourism development has brought a range of
ecological shifts that have, over time, spurred far-reaching changes within
the embedded sociocultural constructs of the community. The
development of the Naviti Resort, a water catchment dam, a causeway
and a man-made island have created substantial changes in totemic
associations, livelihood approaches, and traditional knowledge structures
within Vatuolalai village. The emergence of internal adaptive cycles, and
new behaviours, practices and values that redefine the cultural landscape
will be discussed. This paper demonstrates the interconnectivity of nature,
society and culture within Indigenous communal systems and asserts that
ecological changes introduced in one part of a community stimulate
complex, non-linear responses in other elements of the socio-ecological
system of a Fijian village.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Depositing User:	Fulori Nainoca - Waqairagata
Date Deposited:	18 Aug 2017 04:04
Last Modified:	18 Aug 2017 04:04
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/10079

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