Fiji is committed to, and is embarking upon, a process to significantly increase the number and coverage of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the country. To help deliver on this commitment, the Marine Working Group of the Fiji national Protected Area Committee (PAC), established under the Environmental Management Act 2005, requested a review of previous efforts to describe marine priority sites for Fiji. To this end, the then Department of Environment (now Ministry of Environment) and the then Ministry of Fisheries and Forests (now Ministry of Fisheries) convened an expert workshop on the 19th and 20th July 2016. The Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management in Pacific Island Countries (MACBIO) Project and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) supported the workshop. The objectives of the workshop were to review previous efforts to identify marine priority sites and prepare a report, with maps, identifying updated Special, Unique Marine Areas (SUMAs) for Fiji...The identification and scoring of special, unique marine areas can guide the next steps in creating a network of marine protected areas, future marine spatial planning, and also inform other management measures (e.g. permit or licencing decisions) or environmental impact assessments (EIAs) that may be relevant to these locations.
