Vava'u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA)

08/05/2026

Team work for a clean Vava'u!

Led by the Honourable Governor, Lord Fakatulolo and his office a clean up for Neiafu was conducted this morning.

The clean up consisted of all Ministries in Vava'u and turn out was impressive. VEPA team and ambassadors were on hand to help organize, collect and weigh the rubbish.

A total of 958.5kgs of waste was removed from Mount Talau (161.5kg), Vaipua!, Ahanga (163kg), small boat areas/fisheries/public toilet (115.5kg), Neiafutahi/Houmalei (145kg) and road to MAFF (82kg).

Vaipua area became an all hands on deck with a total of 291.5kg collected!

Ministries involved - Governor's Office, MEIDECC, MLNR, MAFF, MTED, MORC, MIA, Police, MOI, Tourism, Health, Fisheries.

Community Ambassadors from Neiafutahi, Olo'ua, 'Ofu, Talihau, Utungake, Tefisi, Utulei, Ovaka , Falevai and Taunga.

Support was provided by the Vava'u 15 Constituency through Dr 'Alani Tangitau. Tonga Waste Authority provided support for the collection and delivery of waste to the kalaka. Ministry of Health provided gloves and bags for the safety of participants.

Grateful appreciation and acknowledgement to Lord Fakatulolo, Governor's office and all who turned up today for the commitment to a healthy environment and benefit of health to all.

05/05/2026

We are thrilled and excited to be a part of the Resilient Reefs Pasifika Accelerator Program.

Looking forward to the upcoming workshops and learning. Grateful that VEPA is alongside so many noteworthy and talented NGOs across the Pacific.

04/05/2026

Throwback to March!

March was coastal planting month for ambassadors throughout Vava’u and Ha’apai.

Locations were selected and consulted with communities to gather local knowledge and engagement.

Species included locally important such as Milo and Telie to locally threatened Lekileki. Vetiver grass is helping reduce run off and rebuild soil areas.

Kotu ambassadors Dave and Suli are working to plant mangroves and coastal species to help protect their shoreline area.

The ambassadors monitor the plants weekly and provide updates on status and any issues

Great work by everyone and the continued effort to monitor and evaluate the programs.

21/04/2026

Earth Day 2026 - Our Earth, Our Power

Our earth only gets better and healthier when we collectively create action. Nature provides for us and its our turn to provide security and sustainability for the earth. Actions don't have to be big - making small changes creates action. Actions create healthy environments and people.

Join in by seeing what change you can make! Be it reducing, reusing and refusing single use plastics, planting trees or simply sitting in nature to clear the mind.

Nature is a powerful healer! Happy Earth Day

21/04/2026

1st quarter updates 2026

Visit the post for more.

29/03/2026

✅ Results of the clean ups conducted by team and ambassadors for the 1st quarter

⚖ The ambassadors recently started weighing and separating waste, this data will be critical to monitoring long term change.

👏🏻 Congratulations to all involved and being driven to make the change. Matamaka community brought in 75 bags of rubbish and 2 stoves, showing great commitment to clean and healthy coastal areas.

Malo 🥰

18/03/2026

What an honour and a privilege it was for Talita representing VEPA last night at the Restoring Island Resilience Award sponsored by Air New Zealand.

We express our deep gratitude and appreciation to Air New Zealand for the amazing sponsorship and support for NGOS and community driven work across the Pacific Region. This award has provided VEPA with a grant of NZ$15,000 as the winner which will be used to buy key equipment, materials and capacity building for ambassadors.

We were nominated for work to control invasive rats on Mount Talau through the community ambassadors. This work has contributed to the climate resilience of Vava'u. It has also protected the endangered and endemic Tongan Whistler (Hengehenga).

This work was started by the Department of Environment (MEIDECC) and SPREP in 2015, and in 2020 MEIDECC led by Viliami Hakaumotu, built a pig proof fence to help protect the Casearia buelowii. The support from the Department of Environment to the ambassadors is key to our success. Thank you Viliami, Loisi, Lupe, Siosina, Hoifua, Lucy and Mele!

The support from PRISMSS has enabled the ambassadors to build their skills in invasive species management combining traditional and scientific knowledge. This has truly supported a locally driven conservation approach.

The ambassador program has been one of key importance to VEPA, building opportunity for youth and community through income generation, experience and training. We are so very proud of all of them and the accomplishments they are making. Lisa and Talita lead the training of our ambassadors and Pourisha and Suli work hard in support.

Honestly, still shocked! We are so very grateful to the team at PRISMSS, SPREP led by David Moverley, Dom, Bella, Joe and Nitish, thank you!

We also want to express our gratitude to the other nominees Nature Fiji, Samoa Conservation Society, Niue Ocean Wide Trust, Te Ipukarea Society and Society of Ornithology of French Polynesia. We learn so much from all of you!

Wow, still speechless! Talita so proud of you for standing up there and delivering our thanks.

Thank you!

16/03/2026

Hope is resilience….

Fiji and Tonga are monitoring and observing a bleaching event. For Vava'u it started in summer of 2024 and has become increasingly extensive in 2026. Corals bleach because they are under stress, these current stresses are attributed to the increased and sustained water temperatures. For the last 6 weeks, it has remained at 34C/93.2F, above the threshold for ocean temperatures....

Fiji and Tonga are monitoring and observing a bleaching event. For Vava’u it started in summer of 2024 and has become increasingly extensive in 2026. Corals bleach because they are under stre…

01/03/2026

👀 A clean up and waste separation training was delivered to ambassadors at the marketi this morning.

✅✅ Ambassadors from 7 communities joined forces with the VEPA team to remove the rubbish and monitor the impacts of littering and pollution.

🥰 Each ambassador has been given the equipment to conduct waste separation in their activities and report on the results. This helps us to target support and future activities to reduce waste pollution.

🌎 Ambassadors across 13 communities in Vava'u and 2 in Ha'apai conduct regular coastal clean ups, waste awareness and working together for a clean, happy and healthy Vava'u!.

Congratulations everyone!

24/02/2026

Read about one of the lesser known plants in Vava'u!

👀 Species that are new, endangered or not used within human activities often don't have local names. This can make it harder to raise awareness or discuss how to conserve and manage the species.

Learn more on these handy info graphics made by Lita

17/02/2026

Expanding monitoring to tell a bigger story!

Lisa, Suli and Makaleta undertook plant and bird surveys up Mount Talau this week

These surveys are additional to the rat and invasive plant management program with PRISMSS

These surveys will expand knowledge on the bird habitats and species distribution as the forest changes.

-communities