From FBC radio
The Tui Macuata – Ratu Aisea Katonivere has passed away. Ratu Aisea was on a fishing trip yesterday with two others when
his boat started taking in water and capsized. FBC News
this afternoon spoke to Ratu Peni Vulaca – one of the survivors from the
incident. Still emotional from the ordeal, Ratu Peni described how he and
the Tui Macuata started swimming to shore after the boat capsized. Ratu Peni says he tried to help Ratu Aisea for as long as he
could. Naduri villager, William Foster who was part of the rescue team
says the people of Naduri and the whole of Macuata are still in shock.
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Ratu Aisea Katonivere is a Fijian chief and politician from the
northern Province of Macuata, where he is the Paramount Chief and Chairman of
the Provincial Council. He holds the title of Caumatalevu na Turaga na Tui
Macuata, which is usually abbreviated to Tui Macuata. Since June 2006, he has
also represented his province in the Senate as one of fourteen nominees of the
Great Council of Chiefs. In the parliamentary election of 2001, he contested
the Macuata Fijian Communal Constituency for the United Fiji Party (SDL), but
was defeated by Isireli Leweniqila of the Conservative Alliance (CAMV). On 23
February 2006, he announced his candidacy for the Presidency or
Vice-Presidency. When Great Council of Chiefs met on 8 March, however, it
reelected Ratu Josefa Iloilo as President and Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi as
Vice-President.
A BIOPAMA champion in the Pacific
08 March 2013 | News story
A tireless champion of conservation in his province in Northern
Fiji, Ratu Aisea Katonivere, brings political experience, leadership, local
knowledge, and successful community engagement to BIOPAMA efforts in the
Pacific region.
Mr. Katonivere hails
from the village of Naduri in Macuata Province, where he is the Paramount Chief
and Chairman of the Provincial Council. He holds the title of Tui Macuata. His
‘kingdom’ is made up of 110,000 people living in 117 coastal and inland
villages and includes the Great Sea Reef, an area of 78,242 square miles that
is the world’s third largest barrier reef. In the early 2000’s he joined with
four other chiefs to establish the 32-square mile Macuata Marine Protected Area
Network, which has been widely recognized as one of the world’s most successful
models for marine protected areas. In 2006, he won the Global Ocean
Conservation Award.
Tui Macuata attributes his conservation success in part to capacity building, the key component of BIOPAMA. “It is important to embrace scientific knowledge and harmonize it with traditional knowledge,” said Tui Macuata, when attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea last year. “Capacity building works when the society – the communities – are involved from day one.”
In addition to attending the BIOPAMA event at the Global Protected Areas Programme’s Protected Planet Pavilion during the World Conservation Congress, Tui Macuata actively participated in the recent BIOPAMA Pacific workshop, providing valuable input and guiding efforts on networking and appropriate forms of capacity building for the region. Fiji’s locally managed marine area (LMMA) sites are under consideration for BIOPAMA programme engagement, and Tui Macuata will be an invaluable ally in this partnership.
More than 80 percent of protected areas in the Pacific are community managed. “We put the community first, we put the community second, and we put the community at the end,” concluded Tui Macuata in Jeju. “When the community is left out the project doesn’t work. With community participation and capacity building, we were able to embrace the new management regimes that were brought in by the various NGOs that are now working hand in hand with us. We can now sustain our marine protected areas for the future.” This insight, and Tui Macuata’s success to date, will provide valuable lessons that will enable BIOPAMA to build a solid foundation for improving protected area management and local livelihoods in the Pacific.
Tui Macuata attributes his conservation success in part to capacity building, the key component of BIOPAMA. “It is important to embrace scientific knowledge and harmonize it with traditional knowledge,” said Tui Macuata, when attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea last year. “Capacity building works when the society – the communities – are involved from day one.”
In addition to attending the BIOPAMA event at the Global Protected Areas Programme’s Protected Planet Pavilion during the World Conservation Congress, Tui Macuata actively participated in the recent BIOPAMA Pacific workshop, providing valuable input and guiding efforts on networking and appropriate forms of capacity building for the region. Fiji’s locally managed marine area (LMMA) sites are under consideration for BIOPAMA programme engagement, and Tui Macuata will be an invaluable ally in this partnership.
More than 80 percent of protected areas in the Pacific are community managed. “We put the community first, we put the community second, and we put the community at the end,” concluded Tui Macuata in Jeju. “When the community is left out the project doesn’t work. With community participation and capacity building, we were able to embrace the new management regimes that were brought in by the various NGOs that are now working hand in hand with us. We can now sustain our marine protected areas for the future.” This insight, and Tui Macuata’s success to date, will provide valuable lessons that will enable BIOPAMA to build a solid foundation for improving protected area management and local livelihoods in the Pacific.
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