ONTONG JAVA CLIMATE DISPLACEMENT IN ONTONG JAVA, . PHOTOGRAPHS BY BENI KNIGHT. Photography Copyright © Beni Knight/Displacement Solutions. Publication Design by Arteria Studio. Published December 2015.

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If you would like to find out how you can help the people of Ontong Java in their quest for a brighter future and to keep abreast of developments relating to our REEF FISHING Climate Change and Displacement Initiative, please feel free to have a look IN KIRIBATI at the Displacement Solutions website: www.displacementsolutions.org Image: Jocelyn Carlin or write us at [email protected] PELAU AT SEA LEVEL Location: Kiribati The islands combine to make up a tiny 12 square km of land that sits no more than 3 metres above sea level and is surrounded by the COVER: vast depths of the western Pacific Ocean, and 500 km of ocean away WILSON AYUNGA 8yo, PELAU, from their capital of . ONTONG JAVA They have always lived at the mercy of the wind and waves, but The largely unknown of Ontong Java in the Solomon this living is becoming increasingly Islands is on the frontlines of global climate change. With tougher due to the changing neither the support of their government or the international climate and rising seas. community, the battle to keep their heads above water is one they are fighting alone. Inaccessible by air and visited only sporadically by a supply ship, the 3000 strong community is hoping to save their islands and their culture from rising tides and increasingly severe storms. Few people have heard of one of the world's largest - Ontong Java in the Solomon VISIONS Islands – but this anonymity has not saved it from the effects of climate change. The 3,000 strong Polynesian population are living with worsening food insecurity, FROM A severe coastal erosion and the ever-growing prospect of fleeing to an uncertain future on more elevated islands hundreds of kilometres across the sea. In June and July 2015, Displacement Solutions sent photojournalist Beni Knight to Ontong Java for two months VANISHING to document and record the culture, lives and opinions of the people of the atoll.

ATOLL "EVENTUALLY WE WILL BE FACED WITH THE STARK REALITY THAT WE ARE LOSING OUR HOMELAND" ~ FATHER NIGEL KELAEPA

4 Ontong Java atoll - also sometimes referred the shallows of turquoise waters lapping call home. Pointing out beyond the tip of have rebuilt their homes, but groundwater to by its colonial name of Lord Howe - is a on white sandy beaches, catching fish and the island, to where the village once stood, has become contaminated, so nowadays ring of 120 islands located in the western eating it raw with fresh coconut. Other than it is hard to imagine anything other than its they must rely solely on rainwater for all Pacific Ocean some 500 km north of the occasional trade in beche-de-mer (sea present state, which today is a current of of their water needs. Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. cucumber) that brings in some monetary sea water flowing into the lagoon. “When I One of the most remote landmasses in income, the local economy remains largely was ten years old there were a lot of houses The islands are habitable for now but the the world, the islands span 1400 km2, but subsistence in nature. here, maybe 30 houses. When I came back signs are not good. Not only is the ocean combine to make up only a tiny 12 km2 of (after 10 years studying in Honiara) I saw encroaching through high winds and waves land that sits no more than 3 metres above Not much news filters in from the outside a lot of changes had happened. The soil bringing seawater and salt over the land, sea level. The people here have always world. The islanders rely only on two-way erosion had begun to wash away most of but due to rising sea levels it is coming lived at the mercy of the wind and waves, radio and the wireless, of which there are the houses that were affected by sea rise”, from underneath, “like the island is leaking”. but the largely subsistence life that has few. News outside of family circles is mostly says Keungi. The village has retreated into The atoll is being undermined to the point served them for centuries is becoming disregarded; the common concerns are the bush, forcing the islanders to cut down where salt water is rising up through the increasingly untenable. finding daily sources of food and staying large areas of forest to relocate homes. porous coral soils into their swamp gardens out of the heat. Life goes on, but change and water wells that have been used for As with most islands in the tropics, at first has already arrived and nervous talk of On the nearby island of Avaha, he points centuries. The islands are in the early stages glance life on the atoll seems idyllic. Palms relocation pervades a growing number out another example of a lost village. “Here of decay, beginning to fade away. There is tower above traditional homes, coconuts of once casual discussions. there was a cemetery” he says as he points not an island in the group that isn’t showing and fish abound, and there are banana into what looks like just another white sandy signs of major erosion, to the point where and papaya scattered throughout the VILLAGES FADE AWAY lagoon, “And beyond were 20 or 30 houses some islands have disappeared completely. islands. People smile effortlessly and that made a very beautiful village”, but all On a calm and fine day some nine years in this egalitarian society are happy to Islander Chris Keungi is 40, and the son of that can be seen is a narrow white sandy ago there was a wave (presumably a share what they have. a former chief. He was educated in Honiara point, just wide enough to walk down. tsunami) that swept over and through and worked for years in many of the larger At the base of this sandy point there are The days are filled with fishing, gardening, the northern part of the atoll. Once it had islands of the Solomons. In late July 2015 three remaining homes, a church and an cooking and repairing homes made of palm passed, the people could see that one of he stands on the southern point of Pelau, old fresh water well that is now tainted with trees and pandanus leaf. Hammocks swing their islands had relented and surrendered the island he and approximately 600 others salt. The villagers here have also retreated under shady trees, while children play in closer to the centre of the island where they its last stand of trees to the sea, leaving

4 a bare reef between newly neighbouring like this. We knew the time, but today we off the reef on the ocean side of the island. worse. Precious garden soils are now islands. The stories are numerous of other don’t. The wind comes anytime, the rain Then just before 10pm the first of two tainted by salt, which led affected crops to lost islands, where all that remains are comes anytime”. These changing weather waves flooded over the usual high tide mark die within two short weeks. It will take years the bare reefs that once served as patterns are causing unease amongst the and into the village. This wave was followed for the soil to recover if it ever does. Some their foundations. people, and to rectify this he believes; “We by a second that doled out most of the of the atoll's elders agree that since the should go back to the old culture to see how damage as it broke in the tree line and ran region's most significant cyclone in 1967 When witnessing the lay of the remaining we are going to save our people. If we listen inland, toppling homes and sending families the soils have never properly recovered, islands from Keungi's canoe while returning to what our grandfathers and our fathers running to the opposing shoreline just 200 leading most to believe that this time it home to Pelau, it is hard not to imagine were telling us, then we can do something metres away. As the water was receding the will be even worse. that more islands will soon dissolve into the better for our island”. wind swung from the south to the west as sea. Once upon a time they were bigger, cyclone Raquel lashed out. and some were even connected to form GROWING FOOD much stronger lands, but today they seem DISASTER STRIKES With just 200 metres of land to shelter on, INSECURITY small and fragile as they are separated by and disaster coming from both directions, Rising seas are only one of the threats racing currents that are growing higher and there is nowhere to run and nowhere to With the changing climate and declining soil facing the atoll. During the night of 30 wider each year, encouraged by storms hide on these islands. When disaster arrives quality come new challenges for farmers June 2015 Ontong Java was hit by two and cyclones that are becoming more most just gather their families and wait struggling to grow healthy crops. Chris simultaneous disasters. First, two very large severe and erratic. for it to pass. Poasi has cleared a parcel of his land to waves hit the south side of the southern try new styles of gardening. “I think some The weather started to become islands, followed immediately by wind gusts By the time the sun rose, the villages and things can grow in this soil and others unpredictable in the early to mid-1990s of up to 125 km/h from the west generated gardens of this tiny island were a disaster cannot, so I am trying my best to find out according to Patrick Makau, also the son of by cyclone Raquel. zone. An estimated 80-100 homes, which ones can grow” he says. “I always a former chief. Makau is 55 years old and kitchens and rest houses had given in to The island of Luaniua, the largest of the work hard to find out what can grow, but is well travelled through the western Pacific. the force of the category 1 cyclone, which is atoll with a permanent population of 2,000 now they don’t grow very well and all the When he speaks of times gone by he says, the first recorded such event in the area at bore the force of both these extreme plants are dying. People need to come and “we had our own time; this month the wind this time of year. While the many destroyed weather events. At around 9:30pm the see, and tell us what is happening with will start, this month the good weather and homes provide an immediate sense of the incoming tide was noticed to be draining the ground here. When people have come so on. I have seen it and the old people talk devastation, the gardens suffered much before to try and help us with the gardens,

5 they have just come and given us plants. sense of security and is leading to laziness problem, then that would be much help to was built on the atoll recently, it has never They have not come and taught us to do towards traditional livelihood practices that us and the difficulties that we face today. hosted a police officer. Rudimentary schools this or do that”. have worked for hundreds of years. Otherwise I will be displaced, then I will are often closed for long periods, while have nowhere to settle for the education the 2000 inhabitants of Luaniua have no Another food producer, Joel Keise, was This kind of leadership and foresight of my children, so we will become a access to health care. The monthly boat born on Luaniua. After studying agriculture, needs to be embraced, but with the chiefly devastated family.” service to the islands is far from reliable. he then worked within the agricultural system breaking down on the islands and People are becoming increasingly frustrated departments of government for many the absence of government officials on Keungi's views are shared by a growing and unsure of where to look for help as they years. He is now 79 years old and retired the atoll, there is a distinct lack of support number of his fellow Ontong Javanese struggle to adapt. to his home on Luaniua, where he grows for Joel and others like him. Without it the who face growing daily challenges of what can only be described as an extremely population will rely more and more on accessing food and water, combined healthy garden. “I am interested to teach the monthly supply ship carrying rice and with the increasingly visible signs of TO THE CAPITAL? people how to improve the soil and how to flour, and thus expedite processes leading coastal erosion and loss of their precious In recent decades a small settlement of grow good crops, but I cannot do it alone. ultimately to departure. lands. Fleeing one's land to settle in new Ontong Javanese has emerged in the I must have support from the government lands surrounded by new cultures with outskirts of the capital Honiara. Home today otherwise I cannot afford to travel between pre-existing land disputes, are decisions DESPAIR OF THE to some 300 residents, the settlement islands while my own garden suffers”. that are never taken lightly. When faced has given many the chance to further their PRESENT, FEAR OF with the sinking reality of climate change, education, and some the chance to relocate Keise’s agricultural education, dedication though, Keungi, his family and the rest of THE FUTURE - WHERE permanently. Father Nigel Kelaepa moved and inspiration are unmatched in these the atoll may have no choice. But where to Honiara to study when he was 14 and islands. He has created a group on Luaniua WILL THEY GO? will they go? Earlier governmental plans to has since only returned to his island home that he hopes can be a model that Ontong relocate the Polynesian people of Ontong Chris Keungi believes that without any help on regular visits. His journey has seen Java can carry into the future. He is creating Java to the southern tip of culturally distinct his people face an insufferable future. “Our him study in London and Australia before a savings scheme to help the people firstly Melanesian island of have come government should step forward and look resettling in Honiara to assist his people to earn money and then how to look after to nought, and the prevailing absence of to the situation that we are facing here while holding his position within the Church it and spend it. He believes the lucrative government officials and institutions on the today. If anybody, any organisation, would of Melanesia. Father Nigel has become beche-de-mer is breeding a dependence on atoll have led the people to begin agonizing really want to step in and intervene with our Ontong Java's leading advocate and an unreliable income that is giving a false about their future. Though a police station

6 pleaded his people’s predicament on the but most have no intention of leaving. There environment no longer under threat Javanese universally believe that if they world stage in Paris later this year. Ontong is widespread understanding that it will be from the effects of climate change. decide to flee their islands that they will at Java has had trouble finding support from more than just their islands that they will The 2013 Peninsula Principles on Climate best be forging a new hybrid culture. Father its own government, but now there is hope lose; it will be their culture, their language, Displacement Within States provide Nigel says “we would like to maintain our that the world will take notice and push their resources and their ability to live freely guidance to governments and communities identity as a people, our culture, our way them up the agenda of Solomon politics. from them. But unknown to most of the on how best to protect the rights of people of life as people from Ontong Java”. This “The government has promised to do Ontong Javanese, they are far from alone needing to relocate because of climate is a genuine concern. The identities of the things, but so far all they have done is issue in contemplating the loss of their cherished change, and the national government is Ontong Javanese are intricately intertwined reports or assessments and then nothing homes. Among numerous cases already now working on a relocation framework with their islands, so to lose those islands else. I think the government should step underway, indigenous Guna islanders that will hopefully draw on the Principles would mean the loss of identity, knowledge up its act in terms of looking seriously into in Panama have begun moving to the for inspiration. and history that will dissolve with them. Ontong Java”. As it stands, the provincial mainland, villagers throughout Bangladesh “We fear that if we have to leave, we will be government of the highly populated have already faced climate displacement, If the day to leave finally arrives, many assimilated into the wider culture out there province of Malaita is responsible for any and more than 40 villages in Fiji are in the on the atoll have indicated a preference and will lose our identity as a people. This is plans or action regarding the situation of process of relocation. And the list sadly to move to the island of Santa Isabel why we would still like to maintain at least the tiny outer islands. Unfortunately this grows with each passing year. some 300 km to the south, rather than to a small population on the islands so that narrows the possibilities for relocation, either Malaita or Honiara. They see Santa wherever we are we still have ties with the not to mention funding for adaptation As it is everywhere, relocation is a highly Isabel as the best chance in the Solomons original homeland, we are still landowners”. infrastructure. complex issue in the Solomons, but one of a place where they can re-establish that has proven more workable in the themselves, and be welcomed as new When asked whether or not the country than in many others. Land in the arrivals with at least a semblance of their international community could help the THE PLANNING country remains largely under customary ancient culture and traditions in tact. To islanders, Father Nigel says “We can’t COMMENCES ownership and control, and when people move from these islands is to lose far expect the international community to from one cultural group (wantok) wish more than just a home, for the atoll has change their lifestyle for this matter, but Whenever the issue of relocation is to move to new land within the same had permanent human occupation for they could help. If feeling responsible for raised with the residents of Ontong Java wantok territory, this can lead to favourable as much as 2,000 years, in a cultural what has happened, it is only right that it inevitably turns emotional. People outcomes that enable those relocating context where people and their lands are they do something to help us out with the understand the growing need to move, to begin life anew in a safe and secure effectively one and the same. Ontong problems that we are now facing. They

7 could help with adaptation for example, and difficult future, all because of an of relocation arrive and ensuring that any or any efforts towards relocation. There economic system built on non-renewable relocation that does take place is done have been calls for Western industrialized resources, predicated on unending with the utmost care, again with islanders countries to try and bring down the global growth, and driven by levels of greed at the forefront, may provide the best temperature rise to about 2 degrees, which and requisite inequality the world has source of hope the islanders have had should be the minimum that everyone in never witnessed before. in a very long time. the small islands could survive with. So they could help in that way.” The people of Ontong Java have done literally nothing to cause climate change, BENI KNIGHT AND The world met December 2015 in Paris to but have been forced by no fault of their SCOTT LECKIE thrash out a new global accord on climate own to endure ever worsening conditions Beni Knight is a photojournalist who change. For atoll groups such as Ontong of life that may end with them fleeing for spent two months on Ontong Java Java, the stakes could not be higher. If safety. As with climate-displaced people in June-July 2015. Paris succeeds and new vigourous rules everywhere, the Ontong Javanese are are created and enforced that dramatically citizens and rights-holders, rights which Scott Leckie is the Founder and reduce CO2 emissions and secure renewed the government of the Solomons and Director of Displacement Solutions. funding to protect those already grappling the international community have vowed with the effects of climate change, the to uphold. Working together, with the meeting will be hailed as a success. islanders at the lead, provincial government However, if the worst CO2 emitters, which in Malaita, the national government in includes one of the Solomon Islands Honiara and NGOs, donors, the UN and closest neighbours Australia, succeed in other States can at the very least smooth watering down the current text and allowing the rougher edges of the future that awaits ever more fossil fuels to be burned and them. Educating the islanders on the facts accessed, the 3,000 people of Ontong Java of climate change and on their rights will will be victimised due to no fault of their be a good place to start. Following that, own and forced to flee the islands they have identifying land on islands where they SURFING called home for generations, to an unknown themselves wish to move should the day CANOES IN PELAU

Wilson Ayunga surfing a canoe on small waves in the lagoon.

8 9 10 FRINGING CORAL REEF OF PELAU

The beauty of the atoll is undisputed, both above and below the water line.

PAULO SOLOMONGA HOLDING BECHE-DE-MER

While beche-de-mer can be lucrative, governmental bans on its harvesting have in the past lasted up to 3 years, meaning a lack of income for the increasingly reliant population.

“When the beche-de-mer is banned (for longer than one year), we eat only fish and dry coconut, so it’s a very hard life” ~ Chris Poasi

11 IRINE MANU

The culture of Ontong Java faces a dire future as the effects of climate change threaten to displace its people. Without their land they cannot see how they could continue with their culture. To give up their islands they believe is to give up their identity.

NIGHT SCENE, PELAU

Traditional housing is built from coconut and pandanus trees and today is adorned with the modern luxury of solar lighting. The near uninhibited darkness of the night sky is one advantage of complete isolation.

12 13 14 TAINTED WELL ON AVAHA

The rise of the water table has left fresh water wells contaminated with salt. The islanders must now rely on rainwater alone.

LUANIUA FROM ABOVE

The raw beauty of Luaniua, one of the two permanently occupied islands in Ontong Java, is obvious from above. The lack of any health care, policing or consistent education is generating social problems as they are being enveloped by modern ideas.

15 16 PELAU ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Due to an unreliable shipping schedule, teachers could not return to their posts and schools remained closed through the months of June and July 2015.

COCONUT SPROUTING ON HENUA AIKU

While the likelihood of relocating the population from Ontong Java becomes ever more likely with the passage of time, the people remain hopeful that they will be able to remain on their traditional lands which have sustained them and their culture for as long as 2000 years.

17 CHRIS POASI WALKING THROUGH SWAMP GARDENS OF PELAU

While looking green and lush at first, the signs of salt are obvious amongst the yellowing taro leaves. Salt infiltrates from above and below, leaving taro crops reduced in size and the roots rotten.

“The swamp gardens are very small compared to how many people need to share them” ~ Chris Poasi

PELAU

Smoke from a fire rises up through the canopy of pandanus and palm.

18 19 20 SARAH ABORA

Abora is one of the last remaining women wearing the traditional full body tattoos of Ontong Java. She has spent her entire life on Pelau, and has seen it erode away. She remembers a time when there was nothing except bush where the village stands today, and when people lived beyond the point of the island, as it presently lays.

“In the time of WWII things started to change and the houses started to move inland” ~ Sarah Abora

SHIP UNLOADING, LUANIUA

The once self-sufficient people of Ontong Java are forced to rely increasingly on an unreliable monthly supply ship bringing rice and flour, two staples unknown until recent decades.

"Before, we didn’t rely on anyone to help and we ate well” ~ Sarah Abora

21 POLICE STATION ON PELAU

A police station was built by local government though it is yet to see an officer posted.

WILLY KUMULI STANDING IN FRONT OF HIS DAMAGED HOME, LUANIUA

After two large waves destroyed his home and crops, Willy Kumuli has a legitimate concern for the immediate future of life on the islands.

“We have thoughts,we have plans, but those in parliament are not looking to us for our ideas” ~ Willy Kumuli PALMS BENDING WITH THE WIND OF CYCLONE RAQUEL, PELAU

On June 30 2015 an unseasonal cyclone stormed into Ontong Java, leaving considerable devastation in its wake. Winds of over 125 km/h severely damaged the coastline, as well as crops, trees and the homes of many families.

“Now the wind and the rain can come anytime, we don’t know anymore” ~ Patrick Makau

22 23 24 MAJOR EROSION ON HENUA AIKU

Coastal erosion has accelerated greatly in recent years. Beyond the destruction caused by rising sea levels, the rising intensity and unpredictable nature of storms and winds is also taking its toll on coastlines around the atoll.

HENUA AIKU TUMERIC USED FOR BODY DECORATION, PELAU The narrow nature of the islands are held together by the iconic Ancient customs are practiced with pride. vegetation of the Pacific.

25 MOSES PAOA STANDING IN FRONT OF HIS DAMAGED HOME, LUANIUA

“At around 9pm our house started to fill with water so we ran to another house. While my children were sleeping I sat at the door and watched things, and then I saw this house moving. I woke up my children and we ran into another house further inland, but that house also became unstable. So I woke the children again and we went to another more permanent house further inland."

26 HOME DESTROYED BY A WAVE, LUANIUA

This home was destroyed when two large waves that preceded cyclone Raquel washed into and over the island of Luaniua. With no option of high ground the unpredictable weather and rising sea levels have the population contemplating their future here.

27 COOKING FISH ROSEMARY POU PREPARING IN PELAU PUMPKIN LEAVES FOR COOKING, PELAU Brian Amoa frying fresh fish in a typical outdoor kitchen. Pumpkin leaf is one of the only green vegetables eaten on the atoll.

PATRON LALIANA SITTING IN FRONT OF HIS GARDEN ON PELAU

Experimental taro gardens have not lived up to expectations because of salinized soils that lack crucial nutrients for productive agriculture.

“The gardens here are no good now” ~ Patron Laliana

28 29 30 SOUTHERN POINT, PELAU

Standing next to a make-shift sea-wall Patrick Makau looks out to where the village once stood. The foundations of the once dry land can still be seen.

We should go back to old culture to see how we are going to save our people. If we listen to what our grandfather and our father was telling us, then we can do something better for our island” ~ Patrick Makau

WILSON AYUNGA, PELAU

If current sea level rises continue at their current rate, the children of Ontong Java may have no other option than to relocate to safer lands elsewhere.

MAJOR EROSION OF CEMETERY ON LUANIUA

A local cemetery on Luaniua shows immediate signs of coastal erosion. It was inundated during a large wave event that also destroyed crops and homes.

31 LORD HOWE SETTLEMENT IN HONIARA

The Lord Howe (Ontong Java) settlement in Honiara is large enough for only 200-300 people, with no room for growth. Land must be found elsewhere to facilitate a possible relocation in the future. Given the choice, most islanders would prefer to move as a group to the larger island of Santa Isabel, but to date such a move appears unlikely.

PELAU VILLAGE

As the villages have retreated inland, family claims on land have become smaller and smaller, leaving houses in close proximity of each other. The pride of a tidy village is still obvious.

BRIAN AMOA HUSKING COCONUTS, PELAU

Locals take full advantage of being surrounded by coconuts, the lifeline of the Pacific.

32 33 34 HENUA AIKU BEING INUNDATED BY SEA WATER

The consequences of climate change are already very obvious to the people of Ontong Java. The island of Henua Aiku has started to split in two as seawater is now infiltrating through its centre, leaving signs of a bleak future regarding food security and erosion.

WESTERN RIM OF ONTONG JAVA

Whilst appearing idyllic, these small islands are remnants of once larger and stronger lands that have relented to the rising seas.

ONE OF THREE HOMES LEFT STANDING, AVAHA

On the island of Avaha 30-40 homes and a cemetery were consumed by the rising seas. Where now there is a fragile finger of white sand there was once a beautiful and thriving village.

35 36 TRADITIONAL DANCE GROUP, PELAU

Centuries old dance routines form an integral part of maintaining the unique culture and identity of the people.

EROSION ON HENUA AIKU

Signs of fresh erosion are as obvious as they are plentiful. This stretch on Henua Aiku was exposed overnight during the high winds of Cyclone Raquel.

37 SMALL OUTPOST ON LUANIUA

The proximity of houses to the shoreline is obvious from above. With no option to build elsewhere the locals are left to rebuild after each disaster and wait for the next.

PAUL HUIA FISHING THE WESTERN RIM OF ONTONG JAVA

While land resources are proving unreliable, there is a sea full of resources to help maintain the population. Though according to locals this is becoming less productive and involves travelling further than in times gone by.

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