On the fifth day after the burial of their chief, Seru Moce, 66, and other clan members gathered for a meeting to decide what portion of the sea to protect in memory of their deceased leader. For generations, Indigenous iTaukei people in Fiji have not only protected a loved one’s burial grounds, but also freshwater and marine areas in their memory. “Funerary protected areas hold much significance for the iTaukei way of life and conservation,” Moce said. “It’s a part of our livelihood, culture and sustainable management of resources.” It’s a practice that still endures today, though it has evolved across the country, a group of researchers who sought to bring light to this understudied type of protected area found. “Despite more than three decades of conservation efforts in Fiji,” they said, conservationists did not document aquatic funerary protected areas (or FPAs). This, they said, prevented the use of FPAs as a potential resource management strategy for the country. Upon the burial of a family member or community chief on clan land, local Fijians demarcate customary tabu (no-go closed-off areas) as protected areas in a freshwater or marine ecosystem. The size varies and tends to be larger for chiefs but are small compared with typical protected areas, ranging from 1-10 hectares (2.5-25 acres). For chiefs, the FPA could stretch from the shoreline to the outermost reef. These traditional protected areas forbid people from fishing and harvesting marine species from the area until a funerary feast. The gathering typically comes 100…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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