Vava'u Ocean Initiative

24/04/2026

03/03/2026

🦉School awareness increases knowledge on ocean ecology and ocean management!

🗓Over the next 3 weeks, the team will share knowledge at 6 high schools and 11 government primary and middle schools.

🐠The focus of the sessions is biodiversity, impacts and management including special management areas and marine protected areas. These topics are a key for the internal exams that students will take.

✅Questions and answer sessions at the end provide the platform for students to share their learning and information.

Later this year we will be taking students from the High Schools to the field to learn mangrove and inter tidal habitat surveys 🥰

Great work by everyone, and always malo'aupito for the teachers and students!

19/01/2026

Ambassadors and community are leading the way in managing marine impacts.

Learn more about their efforts and the challenges they face!

02/12/2025

✅ Team members and community ambassadors have taken to the waters once again!

☀️Summer time is sizzle time for corals and it’s important we understand and identify bleaching events.

🐚 Healthy corals provide resilience, food, income and relaxation to name a few!

👀 Using the cards we can rapidly monitor reef changes between now and May!

🥳 Great to also have volunteer Frederike who is with Vepa Vava'u for the month.

👏🏻 Malo team and thanks to the SMA Talihau for letting us do our survey!

07/05/2025

👤 Meet a Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellow, Faka’anaua Lakai! Faka’anaua is a skilled pearl farmer and tour guide, expanding her existing pearl farm in Vavaʻu, Tonga.

🦪Under the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship, this project will integrate livelihood development with environmental stewardship by creating and deploying pearl farming structures that double as artificial reefs, enhancing biodiversity as well as naturally filtering the water, improving its quality and reducing sedimentation. Faka’anaua will also engage local communities and visitors through guided tours, offering an educational journey into the pearl farming process.

📣This month, we are highlighting the six incredible entrepreneurs taking part in the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship. This partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance will support projects that will benefit local economies and contribute to a healthy and sustainable future for Tonga.

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

30/04/2025

👤 Meet a Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellow Melesila Weilert! Melesila leads Fo'i Tuluta Social Economic and Environmental Development, a community-based women’s group dedicated to enhancing ocean and community health in Tongatapu.

🌊Through this fellowship, Melesila aims to address the environmental and social impacts of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcanic eruption by restoring marine ecosystems and improving community well-being.

📣This month, we are highlighting the six incredible entrepreneurs taking part in the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship. This partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance will support projects that will benefit local economies and contribute to a healthy and sustainable future for Tonga.

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

23/04/2025

👤 Meet a Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellow, Piula Fonokalafi! Based in Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga, Piula is creating sustainable livelihoods for her community by blending aquaculture with ecotourism.

🐟 As part of her initiative through the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship, Piula will host ecotourism experiences, inviting visitors to her family’s traditional Tongan property, where they can enjoy refreshments before exploring nearby snorkeling and diving sites located close to the aquaculture area.

📣This month, we are highlighting the six incredible entrepreneurs taking part in the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship. This partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance will support projects that will benefit local economies and contribute to a healthy and sustainable future for Tonga.

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

16/04/2025

👤Meet one of our Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellows, Sione Manupuna Ika! Sione, based in Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga, is advancing the conservation of the Makave special management area (SMA) by integrating eco-tourism into its community management.

🤿The Blue Prosperity Entrepreneurship Fellowship will support Sione with developing tour guidelines, pricing strategies, and marketing tools to attract visitors. Over the fellowship period, activities will include training in tour guiding and safety, as well as hosting open days for schools and youth to engage with marine conservation.

📣This month, we are highlighting the six incredible entrepreneurs taking part in the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship. This partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance will support projects that will benefit local economies and contribute to a healthy and sustainable future for Tonga.

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

09/04/2025

👤 Meet one of our Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellows! Lolofi Aleamotua is a seasoned environmental project leader and owner of Coastal Green Nursery in Kolomotua, who is launching a mangrove restoration initiative to address the widespread loss of mangroves in Tonga largely caused by unsustainable development.

🌳 This grant will support the initiative to plant 10,000 mangrove propagules with a focus on site identification, restoration planning, and stakeholder engagement.

📣This month, we are highlighting the six incredible entrepreneurs taking part in the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship. This partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance will support projects that will benefit local economies and contribute to a healthy and sustainable future for Tonga.

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

02/04/2025

👤Meet a Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellow, Tomasi Tongia! Tomasi co-founded Tahi Tonga, a sustainable tourism business that seeks to grow the eco-tourism market in Tongatapu, Tonga!

🛥️Under the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship, Tomasi will restore a sailing yacht Tahi Tonga purchased last year, and sail it from Vava’u to Tongatapu to begin offering sailing trips to tourists, sailing lessons, and “ocean awareness days” for local youth.

📣This month, we are highlighting the six incredible entrepreneurs taking part in the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship. This partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance will support projects that will benefit local economies and contribute to a healthy and sustainable future for Tonga.

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

26/03/2025

🎉 Congratulations to the six ocean entrepreneurs selected for the Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship! Over the next year, Tomasi Tongia, Lolofi Aleamotua, Sione Manupuna Ika, Piula Fonokalafi, Melesila Weilert, and Faka’anaua Lakai will develop and scale up their Blue Economy projects with mentorship from relevant experts in the fields of aquaculture, ecology, communications, and business development.

🌊 Their diverse projects will contribute to the Blue Economy - the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and increased jobs - while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems in Tonga.

🔗 The Blue Prosperity Entrepreneur Fellowship is a partnership between Vava’u Ocean Initiative and Sustainable Ocean Alliance to support ocean entrepreneurs in Tonga.

👤 Want to hear more about their projects? We will share all six entrepreneurs and their work in upcoming posts!

Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) Waitt Institute

06/12/2024

Holeva community are working hard to reduce the impacts of run off to their community managed fishery. Supported by Vepa Vava'u and Peace Corps volunteers, the community planted over 50 plants to help stabilize and secure soil areas. The community are also engaging in creating a habitat rock wall that will help reduce erosion from waves and high tide. By reducing land based issues communities can help safeguard and protect the marine habitats. Great work by everyone #🇹🇴