‘First line of defence’: mangroves – and mitigation - lost in Fiji’s tourism development

Meresiana Ubitu stands on the banks of Fiji’s Nadi River in Yavusania village, where the home of a relative was washed away by flooding and soil erosion. Mangroves play an important role in protecting coastal communities against severe weather. Photograph: Viniana Vuibau/The Guardian

In the crook of a river near the west coast of Fiji sits Yavusania village. One day soon, if nothing is done to help, residents fear it will disappear. The threat is most obvious along the water’s edge, where successive flash floods have surged up a river once sheltered by mangrove forests, chewing away metres of soil and sand so trees left behind are held up by only a handful of roots.

Epeli Turuva, a 48-year-old community leader in Yavusania, sits near the weathered concrete foundations of an old home, half of which appears to have collapsed into the water below. It is not the only house to have done so: four other buildings have also collapsed during floods over the last few years, the most recent of which hit in March.