27th February 2010… Non-members also welcome!
MareqetiViti club members are invited to a half-day field day at the Garrick Reserve on Saturday 27th February 2010.
In July 2009, club members and volunteers had planted an insurance population of our endemic and endangered Sago palm and Navua palm in the Garrick Reserve. 145 Sago palms and 37 Navua Palms were planted on this day.
Invasive weeds such as wabosucu, wadamu seriously threaten these
endemic palms. In September 2009, club members and volunteers conducted
a weeding session at the Reserve and managed to save many of the palms
from being choked to death by the invasive species.
The upcoming event will be our third visit to the Garrick Reserve.
If you wish to attend, please contact Kelera or call us on 3100 598 to confirm your attendance by 23rd February.
Free transport will be provided for club members; non-members pay $2.00.
The bus will depart from the bus-stop beside the Suva Civic Centre at 8am; and will pick us from the Garrick Reserve at 2pm.
Please bring the following items:
- Lunch
- Drinking water
- Change of clothes – there is a stream nearby to cool off in
- Cane knives
- Closed shoes – to protect your feet from sensitive grass etc
- Camera
Located 10 minutes from Navua town, within the
province of Namosi, the Garrick Forest Reserve is 429 hectares in size
and is managed by the National Trust of Fiji Islands.
The Garrick Forest Reserve was given as a gift to the National Trust by the Garrick family in 1980, and was declared a forest reserve because of its ecological value.
In doing so, the Garrick Forest Reserve became ‘the first reserve in Fiji protecting tropical rainforest and meeting the requirements set by international conservation bodies.’