Wetlands Pasifika

10/06/2026

Botanical Buddy is a Fiji-based kids river restoration program designed by Wetlands Pasifika where children plant native tree saplings in pairs, nurture them as lifelong plant buddies, and protect riverbanks using coconut husk mulching for healthy ecosystem growth.This is a volunteer program for WP for advancing kids education in the freshwater ecosystem and its connectivity for reef systems. The BB program also encourages kids' connection to the environment. We look forward to working with schools in Fiji to fix waterways by empowering next generation of custodians for wetlands of Fiji. Marine Management starts from headwaters and we are here to action a Ridge to Reef approach (from the Lulu to the Qio) for maintenence of green to blue zone ecological connectivity and integrity.

10/06/2026

Wetlands Pasifika, in partnership with Pacific Nation School students, commemorated World Environment Day 2026 through Fiji’s first urban stream restoration activity under the Botanical Buddy Kids Program in Tamavua. The initiative engaged children in hands-on restoration of an urban waterway, fostering environmental stewardship and strengthening connections between youth and nature. The activity was implemented in collaboration with NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, the Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Tamavua Village, Pacific WISH, and the Fiji Museum. Directly supporting Target 12 of Fiji’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan overseen by NFMV, the project promotes biodiversity conservation, urban ecosystem restoration, and enhancement of blue-green spaces. We are grateful to Miss Pacific Islands for joining us for this event as a special guest.
-TEKrestoration

05/05/2026

23/12/2025

🕊️ Shorebird Colour Marking across the EAAFlyway

Colour marking allows individual shorebirds to be identified in the field, helping researchers track migration routes, survival, longevity, and population trends across the East Asian–Australasian Flyway (EAAF). Through the coordinated use of metal bands and engraved coloured leg flags, over 70 sites and organisations are contributing to flyway-wide conservation science.

The Shorebird Colour Marking Protocol, first developed in the early 2000s and subsequently updated, ensures consistent and coordinated colour marking across the Flyway. The 2025 colour chart shows where colour-marking research is currently active in the EAAF, including India and Sri Lanka.

📘 The updated Shorebird Colour Marking Protocol has been adopted at MOP12 (Decision DD.10) and is available in English and Chinese on the EAAFP website.

🔍 Birdwatchers, photographers, and citizen scientists can use the colour chart as a field guide to help identify where a bird was marked and are encouraged to record and report their sightings.

Every resighting counts in protecting shorebirds and the wetlands they depend on.

🔗 Shorebird Colour Flagging Protocol on EAAF (in English and Chinese): https://eaaflyway.net/coordination-of-colour-marking

“Work together, shorebirds forever!" -EAAFP Shorebird Working Group 🍀

22/12/2025

Pacific wetlands scientist Bindiya Rashni delivered a strong appeal against deep-sea mining at the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7), speaking on behalf of biodiversity and ethno-biodiversity experts from 22 Pacific Island countries.

13/12/2025

⭐The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) is a global movement aimed at supporting and scaling up efforts to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of our global ecosystems and raise awareness for successful restoration. The Science Task Force (STF), established by IUCN, was created to act as an authoritative science reference point for the UN Decade and its efforts. The STF provides scientific knowledge for the UN Decade's advisory board, strategy group, and World Restoration Flagships, acting as a support system and peer-reviewing network for the entity.

🐠STF Members have worked to published and collaborated on a number of papers covering science and restoration. Several of these papers have been highlighted by the STF spotlight blog series, which showcases the latest literature relevant to the UN Decade.

To learn more about STF's work supporting the UN Decade's, read the blog posts here:

📕 Steering the restoration of degraded agroecosystems during the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: https://iucn.org/blog/202512/science-task-force-paper-spotlight-steering-restoration-degraded-agroecosystems-during
📗How to effectively integrate tropical restoration and conservation approaches: https://iucn.org/blog/202512/science-task-force-paper-spotlight-how-effectively-integrate-tropical-restoration-and
📘Why movement and connectivity matter in conservation: https://iucn.org/blog/202511/science-task-force-paper-spotlight-why-movement-and-connectivity-matter-conservation
📙The CBD Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and people´s place within nature:
https://iucn.org/blog/202511/science-task-force-paper-spotlight-cbd-post-2020-global-biodiversity-framework-and
📕Key challenges for governing forest and landscape restoration across different contexts: https://iucn.org/blog/202511/science-task-force-paper-spotlight-key-challenges-governing-forest-and-landscape
📗IUCN-WCPA technical note highlights opportunities and challenges for monitoring ecosystem restoration in protected and conserved areas: https://iucn.org/blog/202507/science-task-force-paper-spotlight-iucn-wcpa-technical-note-highlights-opportunities

13/12/2025

🎓🐢 New Opportunity for Students!
Apply for the NEW ISTS Student Research Grant! 🌊✨
The International Sea Turtle Society is excited to announce a new Student Research Grant to support emerging scientists whose work contributes to the ISTS Mission.
💰 Award amount: Minimum $1,000 USD
🎓 Who can apply:
Students currently enrolled in a higher education institution (undergraduate or graduate level) and active ISTS members in good academic standing.
📚 What this grant supports:
✅ Field and laboratory data collection
✅ Purchase of specialized equipment, supplies, or software essential for research
✅ Sample analysis and consumables
🚫 What it does not cover:
❌ Computers, photography equipment, or vehicles
❌ Conference or symposium registration (apply for a Travel Grant instead)
❌ Membership fees, salaries, or administrative expenses
📝 How to apply:
Submit your ISTS Student Research Grant Application via email and explain how the funding will support your studies and the ISTS mission.
Applications must be approved by your academic or research advisor.
💡 Up to four awards per year will be granted to qualified applicants — don’t miss this opportunity to advance your research and contribute to global sea turtle conservation!

11/12/2025

🌄 Mountain and high-altitude wetlands encompass diverse ecosystems, lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, peatlands, karst systems, and the meltwater channels that flow from glaciers and snowfields.

💧 These wetlands are vital natural reservoirs, capturing and storing rainwater, snow, and ice melt, then releasing it gradually. In doing so, they regulate water flow for entire river basins and sustain communities, agriculture and ecosystems downstream.

02/12/2025

This week Wetlands Pasifika has successfully completed a freshwater limnological assessment of the unique Floating Island Lake in Nubu, Macuata—one of Fiji’s nationally significant indigenous lakes. The WP team extends deep appreciation to the Mataqali landowners for sharing their Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which guided the ethnobiodiversity oriented survey. Researchers assessed wetland vegetation, freshwater fish, macroinvertebrates, plankton, insects, birds, and invasive species, building a comprehensive ecological profile of this rare system. Findings from the bioassessment will support a place-based NbS–TEK restoration model, advancing efforts along the restorative continuum and strengthening the long-term protection and management of this culturally and ecologically treasured lake.

09/11/2025