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TOPIC
AIM
The aim of this project is to prove whether rising in sea-level and Natural Disasters
have anything to do with the size, shape and setting of Qoma Island to date, and to also
find out if it has any threats on the Qoma villagers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTI would like to thank the following persons for their contribution to the
accomplishment of this project, for without their assistance, compiling this piece of
work would have been unsuccessful:
1. The almighty God for giving me knowledge, wisdom and strength which I was able to
complete this paper successfully.
2. My parents for their financial support.
3. The elders in my village who response to the questionnaire which was given to them
and also to those who were interviewed.
METHODOLOGYCertain methods were used for the completion of this project:
PRIMARY RESEARCH
1. Interviewing elders in the village about the effects of rising sea-level and natural
disaster on Qoma Island.
2. Distribution of the Questionnaire to some elders in the village.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Relevant websites were used to search information on the topic.
DECLARATIONI Meli Salabogi hereby declare that this paper is original and that any
borrowed materials are acknowledged in the bibliography.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Table of ContentsAIM........................................................................................................................................................3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................................................4
METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................................................5
DECLARATION........................................................................................................................................6
TABLE OF CONTENT...............................................................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................8
BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF QOMA ISLAND..............................................................9
THE EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS ON QOMA ISLAND..................................................................12
HURRICANE......................................................................................................................................12
FIRE..................................................................................................................................................15
TORNADO........................................................................................................................................17
EARTHQUAKE...................................................................................................................................19
THE EFFECTS OF RISING SEA-LEVEL ON QOMA ISLAND.......................................................................21
ANALYSIS.............................................................................................................................................26
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................28
BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................................29
APPENDIX............................................................................................................................................30
Interview Quetions:.........................................................................................................................30
Photos:............................................................................................................................................31
INTRODUCTIONGlobal warming has become a major world issue. Its effect is now being felt all
over the world including the Pacific Region, as in recent news, our South Pacific
neighbouring islands and Fiji have shown evidence.
The continuous warming up of mother earth due to the depletion or damages of
the ozone depletion has lead to the melting of ice bergs from the north and south
poles which, contributes tremendously to the amount of sea-level.
With everyday passing by and every wave slowly cutting edges of islands
creeping silently inside them, most people are oblivious that someday they may have
to vacate their current “called paradise” and move to higher grounds since their land
will be under water.
Many people are sec with sudden attacks of Natural Disaster thus take with them
many life and force actions on those who escape death opening their eyes and
thoughts to the possible threats they may face everytime one attacks. A very good
example would be the 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the coast of Japan forcing
Tsunami followed by aftershocks which killed thousands of people.
In this project, research, study and analysis will be focused on Qoma Island.
Investigations regarding global warming effects will be conducted on the islanders to
find if Qoma have so far faced threats of vacating their island.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
OF QOMA ISLANDQoma is a hypsographic a scientific name for island consists of two main piece
of land which is now three. Her early settlers known to have come straight from Vuda
exploring the Interior of Viti Levu before finally settled on Qoma Island.
From 70 inhabitants in the early 1900’s to what now counts to more than 200
inhabitants not including those who have moved out for their special purposes from
the island.
The centre of Qoma Island is located latitude 17.63 (17°37’66S) and longitude
178.58(178°34’60E) or, 381km East (84°) of the approximate centre of Fiji and 58 km
north (18°) from the capital of Suva.
A view of part of Qoma Island taken from the Nukuvuto Foreshore
There is 10 square kilometre area around Qoma Island and has an average
elevation of 12 metre above sea-level.
Since Qoma is a very small island, water is one of the main problems but now
villagers have been provided with water tanks to aid the 6 springs around the island.
On October 2011, a cheque of $13,000 has been readily signed for the reason of
installing tap water around the island from a major source.
There has been a huge move in their mode of transportation from traditional
Fijian canoes to outboard motors or fibre glass boats and also larger wooden fishing
vessels.
From Traditional Bures in the 1970’s now Qoma villagers live in high standard
of housings, those with wooden buildings, concrete, tin and with full electrical
appliances and modern furniture inside them.
The year 2006 marked a very special moment when Qoma was supplied
24hours electricity in which they paid $38,800.00 for that special development.
Qoma Island dwellers are keen to send their children to school and help them
go to the very highest level that they can reach and this has been paid off since
nowadays, some Qoma people are holding high positions both in government
ministries and in companies as well.
As of current, there have been ongoing projects on the Island including:
Building a new bridge, with the height increased.
Increasing the height of the sea-wall.
Mangrove planting project
Marine Life Protection Programme.
Tap Water Project.
Scholarship Programme.
The aim is to complete all these projects in 5 years time.
The Qoma villagers according to the chief, The Turaga Tuinabulebulewa, aims
at educating it’s children to the very best extent, keep improving the standard of
living, be law abiding citizen, serve God whole heartedly and to protect their
environment.
THE EFFECTS OF NATURAL
DISASTERS ON QOMA ISLAND
HURRICANE
During the past century, Qoma Island has greatly suffered from continuous
hurricane which, attacks and changes its shape and setting. According to an interview
result, Qoma consisted of only two main pieces of whole lands before and not three as
what it seems today.
This was how Qoma looked like before, just two main pieces of whole land
Interviews revealed that a hurricane, its name they didn’t know struck the
Island; this was way before Hurricane Bebe struck. There was no sea wall at the time to
protect the edges of the Island until the 1980’s when they were constructed. The
particular Hurricane caught the island by surprise and since there was no seawall, the
tidal waves that came with the hurricane flooded the whole island. Since most part of
the island is covered with sand, waves can easily cut through them therefore, during
this hurricane the tidal waves starts to separate the two islands, Qoma and Qoma Levu
by creating a drain like form on the sand with around a meter wide and half a meter
deep.
This was the new look of Qoma created by the hurricane
The situation gotten worse when hurricane Bebe struck as according to
interviewees, many people were sick during this hurricane since there were not a lot of
Medias then and the technologies might not have been what they are today.
Hurricane Bebe also extends the already created gap uprooting Mulomulo plants
and carrying away sands with it. After this hurricane, the gap increased to more than
30 metres but people can still cross over to Qoma Levu during high tide with water
reaching up to their knees. The extended gap created by Hurricane
Elderly on the island sat and talked about the problem and came up with idea
of creating the seawall to protect their homes.
Hurricanes continue to struck the island and carrying with them the many white
sandy beaches around Qoma Island. Cyclone Kina is one that was the last to have a
hash effect on Qoma Island, carrying waves over the seawall and into the island and
also damaging the bridge that bridges Qoma to Qoma Levu.The shaded portions around Qoma Island showed the places where there used to be white sandy beaches now gone
Like many islands, Qoma villagers suffered a lot during and after the hurricane, since
root-crops, fruits and vegetables usually die from salt water and takes time to grow
again. The source of their waters are usually damaged and made salty therefore a lot
of sicknesses and other water related problems are usually felt.
Major threats are usually felt on the island with tidal waves flooding the whole
island, houses damaged and their boats crushed, most people on the island are now
wide awake of what hurricanes can do.
Since government help is always late and insufficient for the people, this is one of
those times when the Qoma people stand by and help each other out in all means until
everyone is back on their feet.
FIRE
Fire is one of the major threats that can be fatal, very dangerous and can create
grave hardships in water problem areas.
Before the struck and destruction of hurricane Bebe on Qoma Island, a big fire
attacked the Island of Qoma not sparing any more house. The cause of this great fire is
still unknown to date.
The time of the fire attack was around the 1960s when Qoma Island was still
covered with Traditional Thatched Bures (Vale-Vaka-Viti). The houses were built close
to each other that the roofs nearly touch each other. This housing structure on the
island makes the spread of the fire faster and impossible to stop.
All the trees that grew on the Island were burnt since there were a lot of coconut
trees that stands around households. Also burnt were the very trees that grew around
the shoreline protecting and holding the sands around the Island. When most of these
vital trees were completely gone, the waves slowly ate the edges of Qoma diminishing
its original shape and form.
A drawing of Qoma Island right before the fire happened. All the houses and trees were burnt down
The fire was not able to cross over Qoma Levu due to the wind direction and the
readily created gap between the two islands Qoma and Qoma Levu. Those who lived
during the time of the fire do mentioned that if the fire was able to cross over to Qoma
Levu, the problem would have been far worse.
It was because of this fire that the Qoma village are always precautious about
making fires whether in the village or on their plantation.
TORNADO
Tornadoes are extremely dangerous according to Qoma villager’s .Elderly who
lived during the time of the two tornadoes attack on the island are scared to death
about the terrific sight they seen. These tornadoes caused extreme damages and
fatalities up to 5 villagers.
Big igneous rocks were moved from their original positions; households lifted
and left spinning in the mid air and people thrown against walls. These are some of the
things that happened during the tornadoes attack on the Island. People find it difficult
to escape the tornado since the sea is all around them. Also, there were not a lot of big
trees on the island which the people can hold on to during the incident.
The black mark showed the path that the second tornado followed during its second attack on Qoma Island
Those who lived during the time said that they had no clue of the attack since
no machine can pick up or predict the time when a tornado is going to strike. They
formed so quickly and travel so fast than the speed of the human beings escaping from
them. This has made the villagers afraid every time a tornado draws near to the island.
Interviewees revealed that the second tornado that attacks Qoma Island
travelled through the island uprooting trees, destroying plantation and mangrove
swamps. It also damaged coral reef around the island forming ‘drain like’ look on its
path.
Nowadays, whenever divers in Qoma Island sees any signs of tornadoes
forming while at sea, they will make sure to get away or escape from the sea
immediately. Moreover, children are taught of the precautionary measures to take
when a tornado strikes, just to prevent panic and unnecessary movements that might
create problems and fatalities.
EARTHQUAKE
Earthquake is not something that most of the people in Fiji are afraid of,
because they rarely happen in our country. Eventhough they do happen almost every
day, most are not felt and those that we can feel might just be minor tremors that are
usually nonfatal.
This is different when it comes to Qoma villagers, they are afraid of
earthquakes and what it has been doing to their homeland. Although we count small
shakes as just minor tremors they are doing deadly damages to the Island of Qoma.
A picture of a tree that slid down from the top of the cliff
In 2004, an earthquake was felt on the Island at around 3 o’clock in the
morning which shook the households waking people up. A few houses were partly
damaged and the waves were felt to change as well as they smash against the sea-wall
doing some minor damages on them. Many children and adults were left shaking from
the incident as it was the first that most of them ever felt.
There is a cliff at the north of Qoma Island which usually shows evidence
every time a minor tremor happens. There will be stones sliding down and smashing
against the water, land sliding away can be seen and heard by the villages and trees
uprooted as well. A man was killed in the 1900s when a falling stone from the cliff hit
him on the head.
A picture of the cliff that is on the verge of crashing and could be deadly
Close to the side of the cliff are the Chiefly Burial Ground or Sautabu and a
few houses of the Chiefly sub-clan. All these are now at risk due to the falling away of
stones and land slide on this part of the land.
This are two pictures showing the “about to” falling stones from the cliff that are now at risk
The Qoma villagers are also aware of the fact that Tsunami always strike after
earthquakes. Since they dwell on a small island of an elevation of only 12meters above
sea-level, the effect of any Tsunami will be fatal and very dangerous if any is ever going
to happen.
THE EFFECTS OF RISING SEA-
LEVEL ON QOMA ISLAND It has been years now since the villagers of Qoma Island and her leaders have
been monitoring the rising of sea-level, its effects on the Island and the steps to take in
dealing with this major issue of the island.
They have been doing a lot of environment protection programme that was
initially thought to help fight against rising sea-level but interview results that all these
efforts of theirs seems to be in vain. The Qoma villagers are now aware that it takes
the whole world sacrifice to slow down the speed of rising sea-level which leaves them
with some very tough decisions to make.
It was in the 1980s when the first sea wall was created on Qoma Island,
realising the fact that the waves are silently coming inside the village. In January 2011,
the fourth increase in the height of the seawall commenced to make the current
height of two meters. It was only 30 centimetres high during the first construction then
moved to 90 centimetres in the second move, a metre and a half in the third move and
recently reaching up to 2 meters high.
THESE ARE PICTURES SHOWING THE INCREMENT IN THE HEIGHT OF THE SEAWALL SINCE FIRST CONSTRUCTION
According to elderly on the Island, the rising of the sea level has been fast
during the last two decades and all the ways that they have been doing in trying to
protect their homeland has seemingly going nowhere.
Five years ago, the villagers tried to expand the size of the Island by extending
the sea wall from where it originally was. A strong northerly wind put all of it down so
its entire plan came to a halt. This also came as the village leaders decide to stop and
work on what they currently have.
Part of the sea wall that was extended but was brought down by strong waves
One of the main affected areas on the Island is a place called Nakasiva. This is
the graveyard for three clans on the Island. The sea wall was constructed to protect
them but the waves proved too strong as it managed to go over, eating sands away
and is now touching the graveyard. Trees that grew beside them were uprooted and
left lying on the sand now underwater.
View of the trees beside the graveyard that was destroyed by the waves and left lying on the sand
The place marked X is the Nakasiva graveyard and the line marked gray is the part of the Island that has been eaten by the waves
Another part of the Island that was affected is called Nukubalavu, another
graveyard for only one clan. Sea wall was also constructed to protect not only the
graveyard but also the side of that island. Since, it is open to the south, strong winds
and waves brought it down three years ago and now the sea is slowly eating the soil at
the Nukubalavu cemetery now touching the graveyard that are on the sides.
The Nukubalavu cemetery is marked X, and in blue is the area being affected by the waves and rising in sea level
Natural disaster is not the only thing that eats the sand away, the rising in sea
level do play a role too in diminishing the amount of sands and in the alteration of the
Island shape and size. From the damages that were left by the natural disasters, the
waves worsen the situation by even enlarging the Gap between Qoma from Qoma
Levu, washing away the left over sands that are still around the island. With the works
of the Natural Disasters and Rising in Sea Level, the size of Qoma Island has really
decreased. These are the exact words of the oldest women in the village, Mrs Ema
Taloga, 102 years old: “Sa veisau dina sara la nai rairai ni vanua ka ‘u. Sa qai lailai sobu
la mai na vanua, ka sa dua la na ka na ‘o ‘olo ni ‘oso mai ni ua.” – [The change in the
Island view has been tremendous. The land mass kept on declining and the rising in sea
level has been really fast].
This is what Qoma Island looks like today. With mangroves around it and 6 springs within the Island
The northern part of Qoma Lailai is also affected by the waves and the rising
in sea level and nowadays it becomes a normal sight to see that part of the Island
being underwater. Mulomulo plants and mangrove swamps were uprooted and also
left lying on the sand. Also damaged, is the Southern part of the Island with trees
slowly dying out as sea level reaches them.
This is the picture of the part of Qoma lailai that is usually underwater during high tides
With the current threat that Qoma Island is facing, according to the interview
result, all that elderly are doing is advising their children to go for higher education, get
better jobs and move out from the Island to higher grounds. Their minds have come to
light with the fact that one day they will have to vacate their current homeland.
ANALYSIS
Explanation: The Bar Graph above shows the height of the Sea wall versus year. The
height of the sea wall increase at an average of 0.55 metres every ten years which is a
steady and a very dangerous growth measuring it on an island of an average of only 12
meters elevation above sea level.
Looking at the above graph, we can predict that all houses on
Qoma Island today will have to be shifted elsewhere in the next ten years. Watching
the growth, the increments kept increasing, from 0.3 to 0.6, 0.6 and then 0.7 is the
increment in the last 10years. It is expected to even go faster with the current global
condition.
19701980
19902000
20110
0.3
0.9
1.5
2.2
Bar Graph showing the Height of the Sea wall
Versus Years Height of the Sea Wall (meters)
1970 1980 1990 2000 2011
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0 0.30.9
1.52.2
Bar Graph showing the Height of the Sea wall Versus
Years
Year
1920 1940 1970 1980 20110
1020304050607080
0 1
3050
80
The length of Gap between Qoma and Qoma Levu versus Years
Years
Length (Meters)
Explanation:
Since the 1940s, the growth in length of the gap between Qoma and
Qoma Levu has been really fast. More than 30 meters of the gap alone is contributed
by the strength of the waves. It is evident that if there were no sea wall, the Island of
Qoma would have now been underwater.
With the ever increasing in amount and level of the sea, the Qoma
Island residents need to be on full alert on the cruel reality they will have to face in
vacating their land.
CONCLUSIONIt had been a very interesting journey moving across and studying the Island of
Qoma and realising some of the very dangerous truth that was slowly uncovered. In
this piece of work, the grave truth that was realised is just a rude awakening.
Qoma in very short term is on the verge of getting into trouble of being flooded
underwater sooner enough for some people to realise. With the evidence that is
shown all across the Island, it all points and signifies one thing: The Qoma villagers
have to put in place a proper vacation plan.
The leaders need to know where the people will be located, the amount of area
they need to fill and the ways that they will be able to meet their proper needs and
wants. They must also consider other important factors that are vital when settling in
a new place.
The Qoma villagers have faced some major threats but there still more deadly ones
to come. With the fast pace increase in sea level and Natural Disasters occurring more
frequently than before, Qoma Island could come crashing down at any time.
The size and shape of Qoma Island have been greatly altered by the continuous
attack of Natural Disasters and with the ever increasing in the amount and level of the
sea. The total land mass kept decreasing due to Natural Disasters and Strong Waves,
and the average height of the Island’s elevation will also decrease due to the increase
in sea level.
To conclude, it is now the time for the Qoma Island residents to take action and
move or they might have to face grave consequences later on when the ruthless
nature will strike.
BIBLIOGRAPHY1. Soanes, C (ed.) 2010, The Oxford English Mini Dictionary, 7th edn, New Delhi
110001, India.
2. www.wikimapia.org/1634317/Qoma-Island
APPENDIX
Interview Quetions:
1. Give an explanation about the size and shape of Qoma Island when you were
young.
2. If the size and shape of Qoma Island has changed, state if you know what
changed the size and shape of the Island?
3. Does the rising of sea level have anything to do with the change in size and
shape of Qoma Island? [yes or no]
4. Do natural disasters have anything to do with the change in size and shape of
Qoma Island? [yes or no]
5. State other factors; if any that may have changed the size and shape of Qoma
Island.
6. Explain the changes that you felt being a villager on Qoma Island from you
young ages to date.
7. Give and explain the risks that you have experienced and the ones that you
know of that might have the possibility of happening staying on an Island.
8. What do you think Qoma will look like in the next 50 years time?
9. Do you have any plans on what to do in the case of any natural disasters?
10.Have you done anything to protect your Island? If yes, state what actions.
Photos:
The scene of the Bures on Qoma Island before the fire happened
The pictures of the shoreline of Qoma Island showing evidence of Trees falling down as waves swipes sands away