Fiji maps its path to climate resilience through a GIS capacity-building workshop

Suva, Fiji, 25 June 2025 24 government representatives from Fiji have successfully completed a week-long training on geospatial mapping and carbon stock assessment, marking a significant step forward in the country’s efforts to protect its blue carbon ecosystems and strengthen climate resilience.

Held from 16–20 June 2025 at the Novotel in Suva, Fiji, the MACBLUE GIS Capacity-Building Workshop was delivered by the Pacific Community's (SPC) Earth and Oceans Observation Programme in partnership with the Fiji Government and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Pacific).

The workshop equipped participants with practical skills to map and monitor mangroves and seagrass using open-source tools like QGIS, the MACBLUE plugin, and satellite data from Digital Earth Pacific (DE Pacific). These ecosystems serve as natural buffers against climate change, storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, and sustaining coastal communities and livelihoods.

During his opening speech, GIZ Country Director for the Philippines and Pacific Island Countries, Mr Immanuel Gebhardt, expressed: “Pacific Islands leaders gathered in Nice, France, for the third UN Ocean Conference, united by a clear message, one ocean, one people. As custodians of the world’s largest ocean, the Pacific Islands continue to lead by example in ocean conservation and climate change mitigation, advocating for stronger global commitments and actions. Today, we are all gathered for the same shared common goal of exchanging knowledge and expertise towards enhancing effective ocean and coastal ecosystems management for one ocean, one people.”

This hands-on training has immediate and long-term benefits for Fiji and the region. It strengthens national capacity to collect and use environmental data, improves coordination between government departments, and supports more informed policymaking in areas such as coastal planning, disaster preparedness, and climate resilience. With support from Digital Earth Pacific, participants can now access and analyse satellite data tailored for the Pacific, transforming complex earth observation tools into actionable insights for sustainable development.

The training is part of broader regional efforts under the Managing Blue Carbon Ecosystems (MACBLUE) project, which aims to strengthen national capacity in GIS and Earth Observation.

When talking about the training, Mereoni Taga, Geospatial Officer at the Ministry of Fisheries in Fiji, explained: “This workshop has broadened my understanding of how seagrass connects to blue carbon. Blue carbon is actually a main component of carbon storage. This workshop helped me see how seagrass acts as part of a carbon sink, where it stores blue carbon, and how that supports climate change initiatives.”

In her closing remarks, Ngedikes Olai Uludong, Deputy Director of SPC’s Georesources and Energy Programme, reflected on the broader significance of the training, noting: “Mangroves are a part of our Pacific culture and heritage, a buffer for natural disasters, and play a critical role in our Pacific way of life. The MACBLUE Fiji Workshop marks an important step in how we map, understand, and protect these ecosystems for future generations.”

To date, the project has conducted three capacity-building workshops in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji, with 74 participants from the region, including nearly 40% female representation. By combining local knowledge with modern data tools, Pacific countries and territories are increasingly able to make evidence-based decisions that benefit both communities and the environment.

This article was originally published on the SPC website.