Republic of the Fiji Islands
Fiji, officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands, is a republic made up of a Melanesian island group. The islands are the complex products of volcanic action, sedimentary deposit and formations of coral, all on a submerged platform of ancient formation that occurred about 400 million years ago. Most of the islands are remnants of once active volcanoes. The region is composed of 522 islets and more than 300 islands, of which one-third are permanently inhabited. These islands are situated east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu in the South Pacific Ocean. The two largest islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, which together account for 78% of the total land area and 87% of the human population. The islands are covered with tropical forests and are mountainous, with peaks up to 1,300 meters high.
Long, dry winters are typical in the northwest of Fiji’s large islands and have produced extensive dry forest communities unique in the Pacific. Its endangered tropical dry forests are limited to its larger islands where the mountains create rainshadows. Though quite small in area, the dry forests support a large number of endemic species. Unfortunately, this forest which once covered 7557 km2 is now found on less than 100 km2 and is probably one of the most endangered habitats in the tropical Pacific. It seems that the reason for the minimal conservation efforts towards the dry forests is due to the lack of information and study in the dry forest regions. This site brings a collaboration of information about the tropical dry forests of Fiji in hopes of raising greater awareness of the immense threats the dry forest regions face.
