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Discover Fiji’s Endemic Sago Palm with Nunia at Culanuku Village
Saturday, May 28, 2016 @ 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
F$35
Find Fiji’s Endemic Sago Palm with Nunia
Fiji’s Endemic Sago Palm with Nunia at Culanuku Village
28th May 2016
Saturday morning (9am – 2.00pm)
Culanuku Village, Serua
Join Nunia for a visit to Culanuku village in Serua to learn about the endangered endemic Fiji sago palm, its life cycle and the efforts in saving it from extinction.
Walk through the Sago Palms forest and learn about Fiji’s wetland species. You may be asked to help with some palm seedlings planting.
The women folk will demonstrate replanting, harvesting and thatching of the leaves.
A delicious lunch of several dishes will be prepared for us with fish fresh from the sea and local vegetables.
Enjoy the beach or swim in the sea before or after lunch.
The Culanuku Sago Palm Field is Fiji’s first sago palm habitat rehabilitation demonstration site
The Culanuku Sago Palm Field
The Culanuku Sago Palm Field is Fiji’s first sago palm habitat rehabilitation demonstration site*.
The sago palm fruits and flowers only once in its life time (20 to 25 years) before it dies.
The harvesting of young sago palm for heart of palm plus the demands of thatching for the Tourism industry has made harvesting unsustainable and the palm is now in serious risk of extinction.
NatureFiji-MareqetiViti in partnership with the Department of Environment, Serua Provincial Office, Department of Forests and the National Trust of Fiji established a five-year species recovery plan 2010-2015. Part of this recovery plan has been implemented at Culanuku village.
Cost
- $35 for NatureFiji-MareqetiViti member
- $45 for non-member.
- Book and pay early to secure a place!
Time
- 9.00 am Sharp: Depart Suva from the Civic Center bus stop.
- 1.00pm Depart Culanuku village
Details
- Minimum Age: 7years.
- Culanuku Village, 40 mins from Suva.
- Transport and lunch will be provided (please inform us if you are vegetarian)
- Sulus must be worn in the village.
Nunia Thomas conducting herpetofauna surveys in the Nakauvadra range, Ra province where she discovered Viti Levu’s only known surviving population of Fiji ground frogs.
Nunia Thomas
Nunia Thomas, is the Director of NatureFiji, Fiji’s only local NGO for the conservation and sustainable use of Fiji’s biodiversity.
Nunia is the technical advisor on the government-led National Protected Areas Committee and NBSAP Species working group. Prior to NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, Nunia was involved in planning and establishing long-term monitoring plots for invasive plants in two of Fiji’s protected areas; and conducted ecological studies on some of Fiji’s endangered species. Nunia has been co-author in four scientific papers through her partnered research on Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, Fiji crested iguana ecology and Fiji ground frog ecology and has contributed to several technical reports. She is currently serving her 3rd year as a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Steering Committee.