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Introducing the project to Marovo-active
NGOs and local community stakeholders.
Participants
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Norm Duke
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James
Udy
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Joelle Prange
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Simon Albert |
Greg
Young |
Worklocations
and outcomes
Meetings were held in Honiara and Marovo. As before, key stakeholders
were presented with handout portfolios along with our new
project team picture book. In the picture book, the project
objectives were described along with images of all UQ personnel
involved. Preliminary field investigations were made of Marovo
Lagoon from Tengomo Island north to Uepi. Friendship ceremonies
were conducted with community leaders from the two key villages
of Chea and Mbili. Baseline defining field surveys were conducted
across Marovo Lagoon from southern parts and to Uepi in the
north. A manually-serviced weather station was established
on Tengomo Island, near the research facility base, recording
daily rainfall and temperature. During this trip, key field
sites were established with the assistance and participation
of collaborating villages and two local NGOs, including SOPAC
(based in Fiji) and IWP (based in Honiara). Each NGO provided
essential links with our UQ project objectives. The IWP will
be conducting community consultations regards their use and
management of marine resources in the area. The SOPAC project
will map the bathymetry of Marovo Lagoon which, it is hoped,
will lead to the development of a hydrodynamic model of the
Lagoon. In addition, the ‘RV Flamingo Bay’, temporarily-based
at Tengomo Island, provided supplementary logistic support
for the UQ preliminary investigations.
Key
stakeholders contacted
SI Government officials
Museum Director
NGO officials
Kenneth Bulehite, Principal, International
Waters Project
Steve Boone, Regional Director, SOPAC
Donn Tolia, SI Director of Geology
Reg Sanday, GIS Officer, SOPAC
Kenneth Bulehite, Project Leader IWP
Marovo-based stakeholder and potential collaborators
David Tomlinson, Captain/Owner RV Flamingo
Bay, Flamingo Bay Research
Corey Howell, Owner/Manager, Wilderness Lodge
Marovo community leaders
Dixon, and others, Chea community Aldrich,
Willy, Lutton, and others, Mbili community
SI media coverage
Project activities were reported on by Robert Iroga, reporter
for the ‘Solomons Star’ local newspaper on 24th
of June, following an interview on the 23 June.
Future
planning: a follow-up introductory survey in January 2005,
and May-June 2005
Follow-up survey trips were planned for 2005, in January and
May-June. These investigations were intended to further build
community collaboration in the first instance, and second,
to commence the essential, full suite of health assessments.
This is the primary objective for surveys conducted in 2005.
It was proposed to complement existing ecosystem health assessments
using coral core samples collected by Guy Marion, a third
PhD student joining the project from the UQ Centre for Marine
Studies. |