Climate change gets all too real for Fiji’s Togoru settlement

The residents of Togoru village, a small seaside settlement, not too far away from Fiji’s capital city Suva, are watching their beloved village slowly go under the water, one hightide at a time.

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Climate change is real for the whole planet, but when your home slowly slips away into the ocean, it hits differently. The village of Togoru in Fiji is one of the many places which are definitely going under, never to resurface again.


The village of Togoru has fallen victim to coastal erosion, tidal inundation (high tides causing an area of land to be submerged underwater) and coastal pollution.


Once a scenic seaside village, Togoru is now home to plantations with gnarly exposed tree roots, several acres of beachfront now all a thing of the past, sunken cemeteries, sandbags and cement blocks now a common sight to see… This is Togoru, slowly going underwater.



The coastal erosion has also caused most of the coconut plantations to wash away leading to a lot of loss of income for most of the village residents. With all these, the scope of tourism remains bleak.


And it’s not like high waters means plenty of fishes. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The residents have reported scarcity of fishes, their other source of income.


In Togoru, the beautiful white sandy beaches remain only in memories of the locals. Climate change has taken away the once stunning coastline of Togoru. For most of the residents of Togoru, even their homes have become a thing of the past now. Many of the villagers had to leave their homes and relocate to higher grounds.


Recently, one side of the village was able to protect its sand from washing away. Sea walls helped things a bit. These embankments prevented the approaching sea water from coming further inland and wash away shores.


Do you know of any such low-lying regions that we might no longer be able to see in the near future?