The island of Naghotano in the Solomon Islands, about 80km away from Honiara the capital, is around a kilometer square and home to about 600 people. As the population grows, rising sea levels are chewing away at Naghotano and the other islands of the Pacific archipelago year after year causing increasingly unstable shorelines. ‘The island used to have a large shoreline with many trees,’ one of the locals explained. With the trees that once stood on the solid ground being washed away by the sea, the village becomes more vulnerable to storms and high tides.
The village suffers from flooding with every high tide, leaving the land unsuitable for growing food. Traditional island staples have been lost to higher tides, storm surges and coastal flooding. Saltwater has crept in and killed off many plants.
While generally forbidden, the islanders are permitted to catch sea turtles for their own consumption. As higher ocean temperatures damage coral reefs and change fish migration patterns, the people’s traditional food source of fish is diminishing. ‘Some fish and seashells now are not as big or not there anymore,’ says local fisherman Melvin.
Due to less access to food and water on Naghotano island, villagers go to the mainland every day to work in the food gardens. Small children who don’t go to school yet travel with their parents and play while their parents work hard tending their subsistence crops. This little girl fell asleep in the canoe on the way home to Naghotano.
Dugout canoes are carved skilfully by the locals and remain the primary means of travel for the villagers. They paddle canoes to access crops on the mainland or go fishing.
A primary school teacher educates the future generation about the impact of climate change, which is essential for the survival of the community. Children plant trees to replace those that have died off or been washed away and learn what they can do to protect their island.
[Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.]