SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES TO SUSTAINABLE HARVEST SEA GRAPES

WWF-Australia in partnership with the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and our corporate partner John West, has supported innovative, community-led approaches to sustainable fisheries management in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Fiji for more than 10 years.

In Solomon Islands, a key focus of the project is on the sustainable management of sea grapes.

Sea grapes play an important cultural, social, economic and environmental role.

Tasting salty like fish roe and “popping” once chewed, sea grapes are typically eaten raw or added to a range of dishes, such as grilled fish or dried coconut. They are an important part of the traditional cuisine in many coastal cultures in the Pacific Islands, including Solomon Islands where women play an important role in harvesting. Harvesting sea grapes also significantly contributes to their family’s income.

Sea grapes need healthy mangroves and reef ecosystems to thrive. However, unsustainable development and a rapidly changing climate are putting extreme stress on ecosystems. Sea grapes stocks have been impacted by overharvesting, run-off from agriculture and the destruction of mangroves.

Engaging women to protect sea grapes

10 years ago, WWF-Pacific first began supporting communities in Western Province of Solomon Islands to establish a natural resources committee, develop a natural resource management plan for sea grapes and implement rules around sustainably harvesting them. This has involved weaving conservation with traditional practices that respect tambu, or sacred reefs by restricting time, quantity and areas for sea grape harvest as well as fisheries.

Nerolyn is a community facilitator in Sairaghi, Solomon Islands where women are the main harvesters of sea grapes. Women play a vital role throughout the fisheries and aquaculture value chain, making up nearly half of the total workforce. Despite this, their contributions can be overlooked, and they face obstacles in decision-making for natural resource management. However, through innovative, community-led approaches to sustainable fisheries management, community facilitators like Nerolyn are breaking barriers. They're bringing women to the table, developing and managing tabu or protected areas with rules on harvesting for the benefit of families and communities. “Sea grapes really helped my family for more than eight years. I am harvesting sea grapes to support my family. After harvesting, I sell it at the market. The money I receive is used for supporting my family, church contribution, and school fees,” said Nerolyn.

Building on this approach

This long-running program has emphasised that conservation and management systems that fail to account for the needs and perspectives of people (including women, youth, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups) are less effective and unsustainable.

From this work, a Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Program was developed with WWF-Pacific and local community partners in Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea to mainstream inclusion and equity in conservation projects and support sustainable development.

This includes increasing WWF-Pacific staff and local communities’ capacity, and mainstreaming inclusive approaches in programs and in community engagement. Together, this seeks to strengthen the voice of vulnerable and marginalised people, including women, youth, and people with disabilities, so that they can participate in decision-making, and enhance their leadership opportunities across community-based conservation, climate change and marine and coastal resource management programs.

In addition, through another project Nature Positive Business for Climate Critical Ecosystems, WWF-Pacific is thinking about the future of sea grapes.

Sea grapes are fragile and have a short life span — meaning women need to carefully harvest, package and sell at the market within a few days to maximise freshness, ensure good price and reduce waste. In the below photo, Kilu and Oneidah, harvesters from Boboe Island in Western Province, Solomon Islands are carefully storing the sea grapes in a locally made basket.

To add value to sea grapes and maximise the benefits from the commodity, WWF-Pacific is also working with communities in Western Province to pilot nature-positive business models. As part of this, a community-based enterprise producing body lotion and soap made from sustainably harvested sea grapes was launched in May 2024. This project is supported by Climate Resilient by Nature, an Australian Government funded initiative. Read more about thsi work here.