VISITING global water management authority Doctor Alfred Duda said since his inaugural visit to Fiji 12 years ago, vast improvements have been made in an attempt to improve water quality in the Nadi Bay area.

Doctor Duda said he noticed during his first trip to Fiji in 1999 that rivers flowing into Nadi Bay were brownish in colour, signifying large deposits of sediment onto reef systems.

Concerned about the effects on reefs and marine life, the senior adviser on International Waters for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) convened a meeting with the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and government to discuss the issue and seek solutions.

"Its taken a few years since then to get this project up and running but it's good to see people finally working towards improving this river system. We need to manage rivers from the ridge to the reef."

"A farmer clearing 100 hectares of land in the upper catchment can have a detrimental effect on people downstream. The silt can kill reefs, impacting fishermen who rely on them for food and income. Silt build up in rivers will also cause flooding, which can lead to the loss of lives, property and businesses," he explained.

GEF is the world's largest funder of projects to improve the global environment with more than 2700 projects in 165 developing countries. Since its inception 20 years ago, GEF has allocated $US9.5 billion ($F17.7b), supplemented by $US42 billion ($F74b) in co-financing to these projects.

Source : Fiji Times - 20th July, 2011