Fiji was once synonymous with a tropical paradise. But global warming and severe storms are now threatening the very existence of the islands. Fiji-born photographer Aaron March captures the fragile nature of his home.
The coral reef off Mamanuca Island in Fiji is a snorkeler's paradise.Image: DW/A. March
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Fiji - island paradise in jeopardy
Fiji was once synonymous with a tropical paradise. But global warming and severe storms are now threatening the very existence of the islands. Fiji-born photographer Aaron March captures the fragile nature of his home.
Image: DW/A. March
Paradise at risk
The coral reef off Mamanuca Island in Fiji is a dream destination for snorkelers. But diving through the clear water and colorful fish is becoming a rarity. Due to rising ocean temperatures, coral reefs in Fiji are dying off. The loss of the fragile ecosystem has a knock-on effect for fishing and tourism - two of the country's main sources of income.
Image: DW/A. March
Beach erosion
Two girls walk along the shore at Namatakula village. Storms and rising sea levels have washed away much of the beach on the south of the island Viti Levu. Palm trees, which help protect the beach from erosion, have been uprooted as the ocean creeps closer to land. To fight against climate change and become more resilent to its impact, the villagers have founded their own environmental group.
Image: DW/A. March
A village battles climate change
As they watched sea levels rise and storms erode their beach, the villagers of Namatakula decided to take matters into their own hands. In 2017 they founded a community-based youth project to address development and adaptation to climate change. The group focuses on clean-up efforts and coping mechanisms such as tree planting. Members of the project are attending COP23 in Bonn, Germany.
Image: DW/A. March
Relocating a village
In February 2016 Cyclone Winston hit the village of Vunisavisavi on Fiji's second largest island, washing away much of the shore and destroying buildings. Since then, the ocean continues to creep closer. Fields are routinely flooded with saltwater and homes have collapsed in the high waters. Many families have abandoned their homes or were relocated to higher ground.
Image: DW/A. March
Moving to higher ground
Sepesa Kilimo Waqairatavu is one of the villagers from Vunisavisavi considering relocating to higher ground. Members of his family moved after their houses were damaged in 2016, but the 37-year-old is uncertain about relocation. While moving further inland would offer better protection, a new house would also be isolated from the village and make fishing - a main source of income - difficult.
Image: DW/A. March
Leaving ancestral homelands
Many village elders in Vunisavisavi refused to leave their homes, believing that their ancestors had entrusted them to protect the land. But 85-year-old Maria Lolou, the oldest resident in the village, decided to relocate to higher ground with her family in May 2016. Here she is with her great-granddaughter in the new home that was financed by US development aid.
Image: DW/A. March
Disappearing tourist attraction
The Coral Coast is a popular holiday destination on the island of Viti Levu. It's known for its wide and shallow coral reefs, which are easily accessible from the shore. But rising water temperatures have severely damaged the coral, wiping it out in some parts. Many in the tourism industry are worried that without the coral, tourists will no longer come.
Image: DW/A. March
A fantasy island to replace a real one
As shorelines are washed away and coral reefs disappear, Fiji's developers have begun looking for ways to keep tourist money flowing. One solution is artificial islands. Fantasy Island is the biggest example of reclaiming land from the ocean. By dredging channels and converting "underproductive swampland" into beachside communities, the project has attracted a series of five-star resorts.
Image: DW/A. March
Artificial paradise
Tourists at the resorts along the Denarau peninsula on Viti Levu may post Instagram photos of the clear waters of the hotel-side lagoons and palm tree-lined white sandy beaches. But it's an artificial paradise and one that damages the island's environment. The beaches were created by dredging channels and extending the sand in areas where mangrove swamps once thrived.
Image: DW/A. March
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"Like most Fiji Islanders, growing up I did not have many opportunities to travel or see much of Fiji," says Aaron March. Although the photographer and Instagramer was born and raised in the island-nation's capital, Suva, it was not until he took up photography a few years ago that he finally got to travel the islands and appreciate the beauty of his homeland.
"I fall more in love with Fiji everyday," he proclaims in his Instagram post for @dw_stories.
The island nation is the host of the UN Climate Change Conference taking place November 6-17 in Bonn, Germany. During the two-week conference, Fiji presides over negotiations with delegates from 196 countries focused on implementing the Paris Agreement.
Climate change in the spotlight
For Aaron March, the necessity of mitigating the impacts of climate change is readily visible along Fiji's eroded shorelines, in the small communities washed away by the oceans and in the snorkeler's dream destinations. While the country's climate conference delegates meet in Bonn to raise awareness for the plight of island nations, the photographer traveled across Fiji documenting the threats to his home for DW's Instagram account. The above picture gallery contains a selection of the photos.