13 Influence of Spiritual Beliefs on Autonomous Climate-Change …
257
The decision to build this wall appears to have been premised on the belief that
river flows had increased to the point that (unprecedented) flooding started to occur,
whereas it is more likely that rising sea level—especially during high tide—has
radically reduced the ability of river water to be dispersed in the ocean. It is unlikely,
as many local residents told us, that the river-bank wall is going to prevent flooding
in the future, but they were grateful nonetheless for the Government’s investment.
Views About Future Coastal-Environmental Changes on Ono
Many informants on Ono, largely irrespective of age and gender, told us in 2019 that
they would need in the future to move their dwellings and communal buildings, especially churches (valenilotu) and community halls (valenisoqo), to higher ground to
escape the increasingly-visible effects of rising sea level. Religion-informed climate
change denial was not evident in our surveys of Ono despite this being apparent
in other parts of the Pacific Islands. Previous research has documented the local
people’s expressed belief that current period of sea-level rise will cease in about
a decade (Lata and Nunn 2012) or they completely deny sea-level rise, given (the
Christian) God’s promise in the aftermath of the Deluge to never again flood the
Earth (Fair 2018; Kempf 2017). For although people emphasized spiritual causes
and the efficacy of spiritual responses, many were also pragmatic, stating that they
were prepared to eventually move upslope.
One reason for this view may be the attention, nationally and globally, that the
Narikoso relocation has attracted over the past five years or so, something which may
have normalized the idea of coastal-settlement relocation for communities in this part
of Fiji more than elsewhere. All coastal settlements on Ono Island have land at their
rear that is higher, beyond the reach of storm waves, yet not so steep that buildings
could not be readily constructed there. Indeed in all villages except Narikoso and
Waisomo, there are already buildings in these higher areas, perhaps signalling some
degree of autonomous adaptation to sea-level rise (Piggott-McKellar et al. 2019b).
Some of the most dramatic cases of shoreline recession around Ono have occurred
where mangroves are once said to have existed but were cleared decades ago for
various reasons; a similar study of this in Fiji comes from the islands of Ovalau
and Moturiki where coastal communities with an uncleared mangrove fringe are
experiencing considerably fewer problems than those where this was cleared decades
earlier (Nunn 2000). On Ono, the beach named Roro (location shown in Fig. 13.1)
has experienced shoreline recession of as much as 80 m in some 30 years, largely
because the intertidal mangrove zone has been cleared, exposing the sandy substrate
to wave erosion. This situation has sparked community replanting of mangroves here,
something that local residents believe might halt erosion. In contrast, the village of
Nabouwalu has retained a mangrove fringe which they consider a barrier to shoreline
erosion and are forbidden to cut. Like other ‘green’ or ‘nature-based’ solutions,
mangrove reforestation was once a popular remedy for shoreline erosion in Fiji and
other Pacific Island countries (Walton et al. 2006) but now its limitations may be
257
The decision to build this wall appears to have been premised on the belief that
river flows had increased to the point that (unprecedented) flooding started to occur,
whereas it is more likely that rising sea level—especially during high tide—has
radically reduced the ability of river water to be dispersed in the ocean. It is unlikely,
as many local residents told us, that the river-bank wall is going to prevent flooding
in the future, but they were grateful nonetheless for the Government’s investment.
Views About Future Coastal-Environmental Changes on Ono
Many informants on Ono, largely irrespective of age and gender, told us in 2019 that
they would need in the future to move their dwellings and communal buildings, especially churches (valenilotu) and community halls (valenisoqo), to higher ground to
escape the increasingly-visible effects of rising sea level. Religion-informed climate
change denial was not evident in our surveys of Ono despite this being apparent
in other parts of the Pacific Islands. Previous research has documented the local
people’s expressed belief that current period of sea-level rise will cease in about
a decade (Lata and Nunn 2012) or they completely deny sea-level rise, given (the
Christian) God’s promise in the aftermath of the Deluge to never again flood the
Earth (Fair 2018; Kempf 2017). For although people emphasized spiritual causes
and the efficacy of spiritual responses, many were also pragmatic, stating that they
were prepared to eventually move upslope.
One reason for this view may be the attention, nationally and globally, that the
Narikoso relocation has attracted over the past five years or so, something which may
have normalized the idea of coastal-settlement relocation for communities in this part
of Fiji more than elsewhere. All coastal settlements on Ono Island have land at their
rear that is higher, beyond the reach of storm waves, yet not so steep that buildings
could not be readily constructed there. Indeed in all villages except Narikoso and
Waisomo, there are already buildings in these higher areas, perhaps signalling some
degree of autonomous adaptation to sea-level rise (Piggott-McKellar et al. 2019b).
Some of the most dramatic cases of shoreline recession around Ono have occurred
where mangroves are once said to have existed but were cleared decades ago for
various reasons; a similar study of this in Fiji comes from the islands of Ovalau
and Moturiki where coastal communities with an uncleared mangrove fringe are
experiencing considerably fewer problems than those where this was cleared decades
earlier (Nunn 2000). On Ono, the beach named Roro (location shown in Fig. 13.1)
has experienced shoreline recession of as much as 80 m in some 30 years, largely
because the intertidal mangrove zone has been cleared, exposing the sandy substrate
to wave erosion. This situation has sparked community replanting of mangroves here,
something that local residents believe might halt erosion. In contrast, the village of
Nabouwalu has retained a mangrove fringe which they consider a barrier to shoreline
erosion and are forbidden to cut. Like other ‘green’ or ‘nature-based’ solutions,
mangrove reforestation was once a popular remedy for shoreline erosion in Fiji and
other Pacific Island countries (Walton et al. 2006) but now its limitations may be