Interweaving resource management with indigenous knowledge to build community resilience in the Pacific Islands: case of the Waimanu Catchment in Viti Levu, Fiji

Begg, Shereen and De Ramon N'Yeurt, Antoine and Begg, Shabnam (2023) Interweaving resource management with indigenous knowledge to build community resilience in the Pacific Islands: case of the Waimanu Catchment in Viti Levu, Fiji. Regional Environmental Change, 23 (86). NA. ISSN 1436-3798

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Abstract

This study uses a community-based assessment in conjunction with the integrated catchment management and community capitals frameworks to explore the iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) knowledge systems relative to the management of natural resources in the villages in the Waimanu Catchment. The iTaukei knowledge systems encompassing traditional beliefs, values, customs, and social relations within the villages were used to devise adaptive strategies to improve the physical, financial, human, cultural, social, and political capitals in order to enhance the natural capital in the Waimanu Catchment. Improving the health of local ecosystems would increase the adaptive capacity of the local communities, which would ultimately, make the communities resilient to the impacts of climate change and human activities. It is therefore, essential to implement an integrated management plan on a catchment scale which considers the interconnectedness between people and the ecosystems as well as the upstream–downstream connectivity since land use changes undertaken upstream affect the resilience of downstream communities. The study emphasized that the enrichment of human capital, social bonding, and collaboration among the internal and external stakeholders consisting of government, quasi-government and non-government organizations, industries and businesses, and landowners located both within and outside of the catchment served as the key principles to help achieve community resilience.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Adaptive capacity, Community capitals, Indigenous knowledge, Integrated catchment management, Natural resources, Resilience, climate change, waterways
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Q Science > QC Physics > QC851-999 Meteorology. Climatology Including the earth's atmosphere
Divisions:	Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PACE-SD)
Depositing User:	Antoine N'Yeurt
Date Deposited:	30 Jun 2023 00:21
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2023 00:24
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/14064

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