[File Photo]

Sustainable initiatives are effective and practicable, largely because they are grounded in traditional knowledge.

This has been highlighted by Policy Manager for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Fiji Alfred Ralifo during the second National Symposium for Community-Led Initiatives on Environmental Sustainability.

Ralifo emphasized the importance of building resilience in communities so they can recover from adversities.

He noted that they have gathered valuable insights from the first symposium held last year.

“Yes so last year with a lot of the initiatives implemented on the ground from those in rural communities especially those in maritime islands it has proven to work and that is because those initiatives are designed together with the communities.”

However, Ralifo pointed out that these new sustainable initiatives are vulnerable to natural disasters.

He explained that a single cyclone could potentially wipe out these efforts.

According to Ralifo, symposiums like this one provide an opportunity for stakeholders to learn from each other and stress the importance of strengthening resilience against natural calamities.