The governance of coastal resources in Fiji : an analysis of the strategic issues / by Marcus B. Lane

Abstract

Fiji has a natural resource-dependent economy. The pressures on the coastal environment (terrestrial and inshore marine) are therefore significant (IMR 2003: Levett et al. 2004). The most influential report on the state of the environment (Watling and Chape 1992) emphasizes the importance of a growing population and increasing levels of urbanisation and industrialisation as major causes of environmental degradation. In the context of this study, it should be remembered that because the majority of the population dwells on and earns a living from the coast, the environmental degradation is greatest in the coastal strip, the estuarine environment and inshore marine area (IMR 2003). Further, Levett and others (2004) report that being small ecosystems, the Fiji's islands exhibit minimal ecological resilience.