BIORAP Survey of the Vava'u archipelago

This is a vital and important survey initiated by Ministry of Lands, Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, SPREP, Waitt Foundation and VEPA, to explore the habitats of both land and sea for species diversity, species habitat and to collaborate resources for the improved ecosystem health of coral reefs, sea birds, reptiles, marine mammals and not forgetting plants.

As part of the marine team, we have 10 researchers involved in identifying, counting and monitoring the health of one of the most important ecosystems for Pacific Island nations, coral reefs. Coral reefs provide valuable protection and ecosystem services to both cultural and commercial avenues in Tonga.

Our studies include
Coral Taxonomy - species identification
Coral Health monitoring - percentage of coral cover, disease and invasive species impacts.
Reef Fish Biodiversity - species list and abundance.
Commercial Fish - fish used both culturally and commercially and there abundance for sustainability.
Invertebrates -  crustaceans, molluscs, nudibranch and other small yet vitally important organisms that clean, provide nutrients and food to other marine life.

Our team consists of 4 Tongan partners, 2 from Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forests and Foods and 2 from Ministry of Lands, Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, as well as overseas scientists residing in American Samoa, Hawaii, Singapore, Australia and oh little ole me!

So what does BIORAP mean - its a rapid assessment of the biodiversity of the islands and marine life in Vava'u. There are many areas that have data deficient statistics and though this survey is short, so much valuable data will be collected and passed on to the government and communities to fill gaps and to exchange with local knowledge on the status of the ecosystems.

None of this would of happened without a lot of input from varying parties striving towards the same goal, to improve and protect the ecosystem health and species habitat of Vava'u for a sustainable future.

For the marine team, we are currently based on the Waitt Institute Scientific Research Platform, with a crew working above and beyond to enable us to carry out and conduct these surveys of the outer coral reefs. We have spanned far and wide including Fonualei, Toku, Maninita and many other far reaching islands.

Lutjanus kasmira - Blue lined snapper.

Acropora sp. - healthy coral.

Monitoring of introduced species Trochus niloticus.

We have 7 more days to go as I write this, at present we have conducted over 30 hours of studying the reefs and their dynamics underwater and other hours are left to compile the data we collect as we blow bubbles.

This is a fantastic project, one VEPA holds very dear to its heart, but without all the hard work from all the partners, scientists and funders, this would not be happening. We have a long road ahead and a lot more data to collect in the next week, but we will keep you updated as we can.

Malo
Karen