United Nations help is being sought as part of Fiji's plan to develop the country's northern "paradise" of Savusavu into a Blue Town.
Ismael Toroama Photo: Facebook
Addressing the Global Fund for Coral Reefs launch in New York last week Fiji's Permanent Representative to the UN, Satyendra Prasad, said the Blue Town concept was a unique one.
Prasad said the Blue Town would see forestry conservation, mangrove protection, reef management and coastal infrastructures "brought together in a unique approach to sustainable development".
The UN said the Fund sought to raise and invest $US500 million in coral reef conservation over the next 10 years.
The Great Sea Reef or Cakaulevu Reef in Fiji is one of the largest tropical systems in the world and is "highly vulnerable" to climate change because of the human activities both on land and at sea.
The coral reef is located off the northern shore of Fiji's second-largest island Vanua Levu.
It's the third longest continuous barrier reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Mesoamerican Reef off Central America.
The Global Fund for Coral Reefs was launched to mobilise financial support to build the resilience of coral reefs.
Prasad said the Fund was a "far-reaching innovation bringing blue finance on scale to the task of protecting and conserving coral reefs in Fiji, the Pacific Islands and beyond".
He also said the Fund provided an important source of funding to "bring scientists, coastal communities, oceans stakeholders together to address
the challenges of degradation of our reefs, protection of marine biodiversity and in accessing larger funds for onshore activities such as waste management, reducing fertiliser and pesticide use on land."
Prasad said the larger funds needed for these "onshore activities that impact on ocean and reef health are often beyond the means of many small island developing states".
He said the Fund could be "catalytic in helping countries such as Fiji access large private sector funds needed for waste management, water systems".
