The Job for Nature Rehabilitation (J-NR), Program will directly benefit approximately 16,000 Fijians from Vanua Levu.
The Ministry of Environment will facilitate the program, which is expected to provide employment for local communities and rehabilitate and rebuild the country’s natural environment through the deployment of nature-based strategies.
The ministry released a statement stating that it had initiated 76 projects in Fiji under the program. 38 of these projects were from the Tunuloa and Labasa catchment areas. These projects focused on environmental protection, restoration and rehabilitation.
Yesterday, Dr Mahendra Reddy, Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment, disbursed the second round of payments to 29 recipients in Labasa.
I would like to congratulate both the Labasa and Tunuloa recipients of the J-NR program and remind them that this socio-economic honor comes with a great responsibility, diligence, and a duty to care for tasks that restore and revitalize your community’s pristine ecosystem.
Fiji has pledged to limit the temperature rise above 1.5C as part of the recent COP26. The Jobs for Nature Rehabilitation program, which involves mangrove planting and forest rehabilitation, will sequester carbon and contribute to achieving the global target to reduce carbon emissions and carbon footprints by 2030.
According to the ministry, J-NR aims to reduce land-based degradation, biodiversity loss and riverbank erosion as well as over-exploitation and over-exploitation Fiji’s natural resources. It also fosters positive environmental stewardship, protection, including climate change adaptation, mitigation, and mitigation.