Fiji - Background

Fiji lies in the centre of Pacific Ocean, and comprises 330 islands. The main islands are Viti Levu (10,429 sq km) and Vanua Levu (5,556 sq km). The total land area of Fiji is 18,330 sq km. Total population as per 2007 census is 827,900.

Being one of the most populated islands in the Pacific, the population of Fiji is prone to hazards such as floods, landslides, high waves due to tropical cyclones, draught, fire, earthquake and tsunami. Of these, flash floods and tropical cyclones are the most frequent disasters faced by Fiji. Flash floods and tropical cyclones cause a damage of several million US dollars.

On 22 January 2009, OCHA on behalf of the Government of Fiji made a request to the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to activate the International Charter Space and Major Disasters. The request was made 11 days after the floods in Nadi river basin (Viti Levu) affected four towns namely Nadi, Ba, Lautoka and Sigatoka. Although water levels started receding, the activation was requested considering the role of satellite imagery for collecting damage information and flood vectors to aid the response activities. However, the Charter turned down the request as it did not consider the situation an emergency. Although the availability of satellite images at early stages of flash flood would have helped the country to plan response activities in effective manner, imagery at later stage might have helped in recovery planning. This incident demonstrated the need to improve the coordination of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) with its stakeholders and generate awareness within NDMO about the use of space based information for disaster management.

The UN-SPIDER Technical Advisory Mission to Fiji was planned with aim to improve coordination with NDMO, UN and regional agencies like SOPAC to use and access  space-based information in timely manner. The mission team looked at a much broader prospectus of space-based information for disaster management in Fiji including preparedness planning, response and recovery stages of disaster.