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Tongan community takes the lead in sustainable development

The small, volcanic island of ‘O’ua in the Ha’apai Group will go down in history for having the very first Community Special Management Area in the Kingdom. This historical event was marked and officially opened by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Forests and Fisheries, Hon. Sione Peauafi Haukinima on 1 November, 2006.

Under the Fisheries Management Act 2002, the Minister may designate any local community in Tonga to be a coastal community for the purposes of community based management and may then allocate a special management area to a coastal community ‘for the purposes of coastal community management, application of certain conservation and management measures, subsistence fishing operations or other specified purpose’.

The reef system of ‘O’ua, due to its richness in  fish resources has been subject to intense fishing by the people of ‘O’ua,  neighboring islands and small commercial vessels from Tongatapu.  This has led to the damage of coral reef and other habitats in the area and the serious depletion of fish resources.   So much so, that it threatens the people of ‘O’ua’s future food security and development prospects. Recognising this the ‘O’ua community made a request of the Department of Fisheries in March 2005 to assist them in establishing a Special Management Area as a means to help ensure that there will be enough fish for their families today and for their children in the future.  A number of awareness raising activities were conducted in the community, a representative attended a Tonga Fisheries Project, (which is a funded by the Australian Government and administered through AusAID) facilitated Community Management Study visit to Samoa, to provide the community with ideas and options of how to manage their coastal area sustainably.  The participatory assessment and planning process involved many hours of meetings followed by late night discussions often around the kava bowl.  The ‘O’ua Community assisted by the Department of Fisheries collated all of this to prepare a list of management actions and develop a Coastal Community Management Plan.

The Coastal Community Management Plan describes the past and current status of the resources and habitat of the area and the management measures the community intends to take through the ‘O’ua Coastal Community Management Committee (CCMC) to ensure the sustainable use of the area.  The ‘O’ua Community SMA (refer to Map) covers a total area of 4880 hectares, with 250 hectares allocated as Fish Habitat Reserve where no fishing or access is permitted.  Other initiatives included the ban of destructive fishing practices and restocking of the Fish Habitat Reserve with the locally threatened giant clam species.    

The official ceremony opened with a prayer, followed by an opening speech by a ‘matapule’ from the village and CCMC member ‘Osai Heitonga.  Manase Tu’alau, Chair of the ‘O’ua CCMC, introduced the objectives of their Management Plan and a brief summary of the community’s action plan for their Special Management Area. Marc Wilson, HAI’s  Team Leader on the Tonga Fisheries Project emphasized the significance of a successful implementation of their Special Management Area and encouraged the people of ‘O’ua to stay strong in their resolve over the future years so that they could get the benefit of their commitment to the management of their area. The Hon. Minister also delivered a speech to officially hand over the community management rights and custodianship to ‘O’ua and highlighted that it was important to make their area work successfully as a benefit for themselves and at the same time set a good example to the rest of the communities in Tonga who may wish to follow ‘O’ua’s footsteps.  The ‘O’ua Acting Town Officer responded and assured the Hon. Minister and the Secretary of Fisheries Dr Sione V. Matoto that they will be committed in managing the Special Management Area, and were willing and able to take on the responsibility.  In turn Dr Matoto committed the Department to the ongoing support of the ‘O’ua community’s implementation of their management plan.

It was a very cheerful and inspiring occasion where the people of ‘O’ua openly expressed their pride, commitment, excitement and joy of the event in this important step towards the community, insuring that there will be fish for their childrens’ children.

A collaborative contribution from:

Mar Wilson, Karen Vidler & Pip Cohen , Tonga Fisheries Project

Mele I Makasini, Department of Fisheries