For our first three days of research, we are comparing the coral and fish community within three Ribbon Reefs. Ribbon Reefs form a chain of 10 individual reefs beginning to the north of Cairns and stretching close to 120 km
Over the next month our research team will explore the remote northern Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to evaluate the effectiveness of management in protecting biodiversity and enhancing the resilience of the reef system to climate change. The Marine Park
It’s 6am in Neiafu, Vava’u. We’re driving down to the wharf in the dark because at first light, local community fishing boats return from an evening of hard work offshore. As another spectacular sunrise emerges from the low hills surrounding
After our GRE research mission last September, we decided to return to conduct education research – another Foundation’s first. The willingness of the Tongans and overwhelming outpouring for coral reef education, not only from the government, but from local communities
This past month, we’ve been having a lot of conversations with fishermen in Tonga. Here is a short summary of what we’ve been hearing. Fishing in Tonga targets reef fish and pelagic fish species, as well as other reef organisms
Over the past two weeks we’ve been meeting up with local leaders and fishers of the Vava’u island group in Tonga. The shallow-water reefs and lagoons surrounding the islands provide a vital source of protein for local people. The sharing
Written by Toni Saul It is early morning as we make our way on circuitous dirt and pothole roads, dodging a menagerie of farm animals from the tiniest piglet to unbridled horses and cows. We petition friendly locals for fine-tuned
Today as the sun came up we made our way to the west side of the Vava’u archipelago. After about twenty minutes in the car we reached the small town of Koloa and turned down a narrow track that petered
The Tonga fishers of Vava’u have recently come together to form a fishing association. As part of this effort, the fisheries department in Tonga agreed to give the fishing organization a building next to the government fisheries office. And this
We are thrilled to send you this update! We’ve been pretty quiet over the last few months as we’ve been hunkered down crunching data from previous research expeditions. However, we’re in the field now and ready to send blogs and
