Page 19 - Fiji Traveller Issue 2

international visitors.
The cleanliness of the dive shop with neatly hung buoyancy control devices
(BCDs), indicated the care with which the tools of their trade are kept and maintained.
The professional manner with which our details were noted, circling back to ensure
we felt good in our gear, was reassuring.
“Everyone can dive but knowing your responsibility is what places you apart
from everyone. Having local knowledge both about the dive sites but also just our
heritage generally-speaking, are all important areas for us,” Jioji said.
“I have seen the impact of divers below water. It’s just like when we use a new
path, when we keep using it, it becomes clearer as a footpath. Same thing we see
in the ocean. That’s why I emphasise the need to tread in our waters carefully, and
why heritage, our legacy is important to us as a family. This is much more than just
diving,” Jioji said.
The dive sites are part of the Vatu-i-Ra Conservation Park which was established
in 2017, some 110 square kilometres in size. The area is traditionally owned by, and
is the fishing grounds or qoliqoli of, the vanua Nakorotubu. For declaring 80 per cent
of their qoliqoli a “no take” zone, tourism operators have agreed to collect $15 per
client, which funds the Nakorotubu Education Fund for tertiary students.
Once below the water, the pinnacles are majestic. To gaze upwards as you weave
between them gives you a sense of walking inside age-old European churches;
their knurly outcrops giving gothic vibes. Images speak best of the vibrancy of both
life and colours of the coral system of this passage. Suffice to say, the living wall we
witnessed - the millions of fish darting between hard corals or dancing through soft
polyps, the clusters of algae and sponges, the huge green sea fans and gorgeous
swim throughs, giant clams and rock fish – are memories we will hold forever.
The weight of our collective responsibility of protecting these bays and its coral
systems feels heavier after every dive. While commendable, projects like the Vatu-
i-Ra Conservation Park underline the need to ensure agreements that resources
owners enter, are honoured. Our capacity to effectively monitor these no-catch
zones must be strengthened. Hefty fines that paralyse illegal fishing operations are
needed.
Fantasha Lockington, Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism
Association, recently articulated what needs to be our collective vision: “It should
not be about increasing the numbers of visitors to our shores. It should be more
about driving the value of tourism up – offering genuine experiences that encourage
longer stays, spreads the tourism dollar further into the communities, and allows
activities that have positive outcomes on cultures, environments, and socio-
economic triggers.”
The experience that Jioji and Alisi offer through Ring Gold Divers is a great
example of this vision.

Ring Gold Divers
Ring Gold Divers - Fiji
Ph: +679 831 7365

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