Fiji and Seacology were made for each other. This stunning South Pacific nation is made up of more than 300 islands, home to amazing plants and wildlife found nowhere else. 

Seacology has entered into dozens of partnerships with communities in Fiji. Almost all of them are classic win-win projects, where a community protects an area of sea or forest and Seacology underwrites something that helps the whole community. Many Fijian villages have used a Seacology grant to build an important public space, like a community hall or kindergarten.

The villages on Mali Island, near the magnificent Great Sea Reef—the world’s third-longest barrier reef, off the island of Vanua Levu—followed this pattern. They are protecting forest, coastal mangroves, and a marine area, which they proudly showed to Seacology visitors recently. And with their Seacology grant, they built a shiny new primary school, replacing a small and dilapidated one. The community had been saving for 20 years to build the school. 

Seacology visitors were invited to attend the official opening of the school—a joyous day of song, dance, food, and laughter for the whole community. Celebrating both the school’s opening and the community’s commitment to conservation sent a powerful message to the next generation: your education, and your environmental heritage, are precious.

Check out our video about the project: