Kiribati to buy Fiji land amid rising sea levels
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| PHOTO: Kiribati President Anote Tong says the intrusion of sea water is seriously affecting food crop availability and causing irreversible erosion to land (AFP: Torsten Blackwood, file photo) |
Kiribati has confirmed plans to buy land in Fiji to ensure food security for the island's population against the effects of climate change.
President Anote Tong says the 6,000 acres of land in Fiji's Vanua Levu will be used to plant food crops, not to relocate Kiribati residents.
Kiribati has been hard hit by rising sea levels, with sea water contaminating fresh water ponds and food crops.
Mr Tong has told Radio Australia the intrusion of sea water is seriously affecting food crop availability and causing irreversible erosion to land.
"We've been having these discussions in New Dehli for the past week, and everyone's talking about what is happening to communities, and nobody truly understands that the degree of vulnerability is different from country to country," he said.
"At this time, at this moment in time, we are at the very extreme end of the vulnerability scale. We're on the front line."
In the past, sea walls have been built in an effort to stop the water from reaching fresh water reserves and food crops.
Mr Tong says the sea walls are no longer a viable solution as more communities come under threat.
"People are saying, 'Ok, if the sea level rises, and if you suffer erosion problems, can you move back?'," he said.
"The very question does not understand the reality of what we face because the elevation of the islands are barely two metres above sea level.
"So there is nowhere to move back to because we have no hills, we have no mountains....it is more serious than perhaps many people understand."
Some Kiribati communities have already been relocated to other areas of the island after being submerged into the Pacific Ocean.
President Anote Tong says the 6,000 acres of land in Fiji's Vanua Levu will be used to plant food crops, not to relocate Kiribati residents.
Kiribati has been hard hit by rising sea levels, with sea water contaminating fresh water ponds and food crops.
Mr Tong has told Radio Australia the intrusion of sea water is seriously affecting food crop availability and causing irreversible erosion to land.
"We've been having these discussions in New Dehli for the past week, and everyone's talking about what is happening to communities, and nobody truly understands that the degree of vulnerability is different from country to country," he said.
"At this time, at this moment in time, we are at the very extreme end of the vulnerability scale. We're on the front line."
In the past, sea walls have been built in an effort to stop the water from reaching fresh water reserves and food crops.
Mr Tong says the sea walls are no longer a viable solution as more communities come under threat.
"People are saying, 'Ok, if the sea level rises, and if you suffer erosion problems, can you move back?'," he said.
"The very question does not understand the reality of what we face because the elevation of the islands are barely two metres above sea level.
"So there is nowhere to move back to because we have no hills, we have no mountains....it is more serious than perhaps many people understand."
Some Kiribati communities have already been relocated to other areas of the island after being submerged into the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.abc.net.au
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