A Participatory Video made by Chivoko Village, Solomon Islands

Conservation Story Blong Chivoko" was made by the men and women of the remote coastal village of Chivoko, accessible only by sea on the north-west tip of Choiseul Island, one of the Solomon Islands. Chivoko's tribal land is one of the last remaining intact and unlogged forests in the Solomon islands. Their reefs are important spawning sites for the grouper fish which come to lay their eggs every year for 2 months around May. Their story is an insight into the problems they are facing with increased pressure from logging companies, increasing population, declining forest and marine resources, and ensuing climate change. They provide solutions which may help other Solomon Island and other communities around the world, to also safeguard the abundance of resources for future generations to come ...

More information on a Participatory 3D Model done in Chivoko village in 2009 is available here.

Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) of Chivoko village, Solomon Islands

A total of 60 representatives from the Chivoko community including youth, elders, women and men, students and chiefs; representatives from "Sasamunga Live and Learn", The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the "Lauru Land Conference of Tribal Communities" (LLCTC), and the Choiseul Provincial Fisheries constructed a 1:20,000 scale Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) of Chivoko village in the Tavula ward, Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands. The model covering a total area of 192 sq km is the 1st if its kind in Solomon Islands.

The model has been done to serve a key negotiation tool for the Chivoko community to map out the watershed and coastal areas it depends on to address the challenges facing sustainable resource management and conservation. The initiative aims at securing the conservation of the Chivoko Watershed forests (approx 8000 ha) and place them legally beyond the reach of industrial logging ventures. The project will draw on national expertise to produce a collaborative watershed management plan which will provide guidance for sustainable forest development practices by a community cooperative.

More information is found here.