Fiji

Some 10 percent of Fiji’s land is arable, with another 10 percent used for pasture, mainly of cattle and goats. About 65 percent of the land is forested, with a significant timber industry, leading to rapid deforestation. Fiji has a relatively low per capita rate of carbon dioxide emissions, at 1.1 metric tons per person in 1990, and remaining relatively stable, rising slowly to 1.3 metric tons in 2003. Although there is extensive use of electricity throughout the country, 82 percent come from hydropower and only 18 percent from fossil fuels. This has the result that most carbon dioxide emissions do not come from electricity generation (solid fuels account for only 7 percent of these emissions), 87 percent of emissions come from liquid fuels, mainly from automobiles and household generators, with 6 percent from the manufacture of cement.

Fiji faces major problems from global warming and climate change, with the rising sea level threatening the flooding of many parts of the country. Some reports from around the islands show that the average shoreline has been receding at 6 in. (0.15 m.) per year since 1920. The most dramatic effects of global warming have been seen on the island of Gau, in the Lomaiviti Group, to the east of the main island Viti Levu, which has lost 656 ft. (200 m.) of coast, with threats to Beachcomber Island and Treasure Island in the Mamanuca Group to the west of Viti Levu; with Lelevia and Caqelai also likely to be affected in the next 25 years. Other places likely to be affected are Tokou village on Ovalau Island, and even some villages on low-lying land on Viti Levu, such as Culanuku and Toguvu.

In Fiji the Nation Development Programme(UNDP) helps in ensuring efficient and equitable water resources management and water supply and sanitation delivery, replicating best practices for Solid Waste Management programmers and increasing efforts towards enabling access to electricity, environmentally sustainable transportation and cleaner/affordable fuels at both national and community levels.

The Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity  was inspired by the world community's growing commitment to sustainable development. It represents a dramatic step forward in the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

The following discusses Fiji's plans for biodiversity nationwide:

The Republic of Fiji consists of approximately 300 islands exceeding half an hectare in area, with an aggregate land area of approximately 18,300 km2. There are also many smaller islets, cays and offshore rocks. Viti Levu and Vanua Levu comprise 88% of the total land area. It is estimated that no more than 100 of the islands are permanently inhabited. Fiji's larger volcanic islands are dominated by steep, mountainous country deeply incised by rivers and streams. Rainfall is probably the physical parameter that causes the most marked vegetation changes. Broadly the forests can be divided into four very generalised types of vegetation that correlate primarily with rainfall - wet, intermediate, dry zone and coastal forests. Much of the dry zone vegetation has been reduced to grasslands and degraded fernlands by repeated burning.

The Fijian rain forest is characterised by having a comparatively large number of species of diverse families, without any real dominants. It supports many lianas, ferns and epiphytes including orchids. The total number of vascular plants known from Fiji is approximately 2600 of which approximately 1600 are native and 1000 are introduced. The fern flora, in particular, is highly developed with 303 taxa of which 88 (29%) are endemic species. Fiji’s fauna includes 55 terrestrial breeding bird species, of which 24 are endemic, and 15 species of breeding seabirds. The only indigenous mammals are bats, of which there are six known species. Introduced and naturalised mammals include four rodents and the Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus). Marine life also abounds in Fiji, which has one of the largest and best-developed coral reef systems in the South Pacific. All of the major reef types are represented (fringing reefs, barrier reefs, platform reefs, oceanic ribbon reefs, drowned reef shoals, atolls and near atolls). There are 1,200 species of fish, 200 corals and 1,100 molluscs and many thousands of other invertebrates (sponges, worms, crustaceans, starfish, sea urchins, etc) that have been described to date. Threats to the biodiversity of Fiji include overfishing, pollution, and aquatic species introductions

Source: Convention on Biodiversity