Moving House Fiji Style

Fiji, in the Pacific, is 14th on the list of countries being most at risk from weather-associated events. The country is frequently devastated by cyclones. Fiji has 300 islands but a population only only circa 1 million people. Fiji's government is taking climate changes seriously and has devised a document, 'Standard Operating Procedures for Planned Relocations' (www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/08/how-to-move-a-country-fiji-radical-plan-escape-rising-seas-climate-crisis). The 'Standard Operating Procedures for Planned Relocations' is a plan to move the country, village by village, to locations away areas that are becoming progressively more dangerous. This is not as easy as it sounds, as infrastructure, as well as, houses have to be provided in the new sites. It's also not a cheap option. Moving the village of Vunidogoloa has been described as a 'partial success'. People are safer from extreme weather events but this village only had circa 30 houses. Fiji has the advantages of having a lot of land and a relatively small human population. Moving human settlements would be much more difficult in other locations. In deed, the limitations of such schemes are not so different from those faced by montane animal species. As it gets warmer, they can move up the mountain slopes. Eventually, however, they reach a point at which further migration becomes impossible. Having said that, the Fijians are at least being proactive in their planning. That's far more than can be said for many countries (including the UK).