Chemoho conservation area and Pelevo island, Morovo Lagoon

The great Hornbill

Yes, that starts sounding repetitive but the search for conservation initiatives continues in the Morovo lagoon with rather depressing outcomes. In amongst the raped and pillaged natural landscape of Vangunu, there aren’t many places left that stand out for their intact natural value.

One of many logging camps which are all around Vangunu island



Very little native forest was spared by the loggers, except for one plot which we were lucky to find at Chemoho, near the village of Cheke.
The conservation has been the initiative of one family alone, on their own land, a 300 acres plot which runs from the shore to inland hills and they are very proud of it and wish to make it known to the outside world, which is why I am talking about it some detail now.
Lulu and family


The block of native forest saved by Lulu and Hopia has become a heaven for all the birds who lost their habitat trashed by loggers on either side, so it is a birdwatcher’s paradise! A great place to photograph a number of species, including the Hornbill. Many pairs reside throughout the block and Hopia knows their habits very well, along with those of many other species, which fruiting tree they are in and when, etc….

White cockatoos are contstantly cackling in the trees


cuckoo shrike eating fruit


Ducks inhabit the creek which borders the block and can be visited by kayak or dinghy



Eclectus parrots, white cockatoos, many kingfishers and buffeted kaukau also reside in the lowland area whilst a swirl of butterfly species can be observed near the hill that lookout over the lagoon.

Hopia or Lulu and any of the girls can take you for a walk on the network of neat tracks zigzagging through the bush block. Of course the block has been used in a traditional way and is sparsed with clearings used for gardens and only a few large trees were harvested here and there for family building needs. The foreshore area supported a coconut plantation



Hopia, Lulu Viginia and kids are very welcoming and hospitable. During the time new Zealand was encouraging the ecolodge business (90s) Lulu trained as a kayaking guide and both worked in the lodge nearby. Now they are eager to have any visitors interested in nature. Though their settings is very rudimentary, it’ll make for an interesting visit and they welcome any yacht to anchor at the front (there is a 9m shoal 150 m from their coral jetty) Lat Lon XXXX

Hopia also runs a carving shop, inside the old district courthouse. Here are a few examples of his talented works.
Hopia in his shop





Carving is abig industry in MOrovo lagoon and the archetype representation of sustainable and value adding use of timber. It's also deeply inspired by nature.



Another interesting though not terribly protected anchorage is behind Pelevo island, which also belongs to Lulu and family.


- I will add Map and GPS track to Pelevo, there are a bunch of reefs to avoid -

This tiny sand cay, 2.4 miles north of Chemoho has a house on it, Turtles and Kurukuru (pidgeons) nest on it. The reef there is an MPA set by Lulu early 2000. It has started recovering and makes for a shallow snorkel.


Lucky porters, they're happy to carry the tripod, said to be lighter than a chain saw!!!!

MPA's in the Morovo Lagoon

MPA stands for Marine Protected Areas. Such concept is no novelty to us in Australia but what may seem a relatively simple undertaking in our country (despite the strong lobbies of recreational and commercial fishermen, for example on the Great Barrier Reef) is much more complex in the Solomon Islands.

Marine protected areas in fact are no novelty to Solomon Islanders either, but the islanders have mostly forgotten this. Traditionally, the chiefs were also closing certain reefs areas to protect them from fishing for periods of time and let them replenish. In older times, the chiefs had more power than nowadays and their will was respected. Recently though, there has been a drop in leadership quality within many communities and the push by outside initiatives is necessary to help conservation. As part of its water quality monitoring of the Morovo Lagoon, the University of Queensland team found out that fishing practices were the predominant threat to the coral reef ecosystems and that there was a need to reduce harvesting to help the reef recover. So they pushed for the communities to create a number of MPA’s. A tedious work undertaken by the UQ team with local boat driver and community educator Morgan.

Most people live on or by the water and use the resource



Though very traditional, fishing by a growing population pressures the reef



Morgan is helping the local villagers marking their MPAs with rope and buoys. Lots of buoys are needed shaping a very well defined line, says Morgan, because if only one or two mark the corners, they are likely to get stolen. This is one of many other difficulties and oppositions to the establishment of MPAs. Jealousy and greed are crippling the process, with some community members gossiping that Morgan is personally benefiting from the MPAs. Many of these MPA projects do not have their own dynamism: too often, an NGO comes in, provides all materials and does it all. As a result, people do not appropriate the project fully and if the NGO resigns activity in the area, MPA does not continue. The lack of good leadership is often the problem.



If no longline fishing buoys are available, a clever way to make some floats is to use bamboo stick, ballasted with cement at the bottom. A small flag is strapped at the top.



Morgan conduct underwater monitoring training sessions


In each MPA, regular monitoring is conducted by trained locals. For fish and coral census transects, a simple exercise for a marine bio in Oz, takes a bit of patience to train the locals. But they have the advantage of knowing their reef perfectly.


In particular, the overharvesting of grazing fish, enabled excessive algae cover to impend on coral growth, leading to coral death and the loss of habitat for other species of fish.


Together with excessive nutrient and sediment input from erosion caused by logging, macroalgae are getting a boost to invasion after every major rain event. With Morovo lagoon being very enclosed, with its double barrier, plumes get trapped inside, covering the coral with layers of mud.


Of course this is intermittent and in dry periods, the rivers are pristinely clean


Going up one of the rivers on Vangunu with driver Morgan



But the damage created by large ares of clear fell land is obvious in heavy rainfall. This reef is straight of the oil plantation of Meresu on SE Vangunu

Matiu Island, Morovo Lagoon

The next few entries (read from bottom to top in the blog) relate details of a fast-ish passage along the 120 miles that separate Ngatokae Island all the way to Lola island in the Vona Vona Lagoon, via the north of the New Georgia Group.

Oct3rd 2008
Matiu Island
S8 29.667 E158 08.732


After first attempt to depart for Kolombangara, following the more picturesque southern route, via the Hele Bar and Blanche Channel to Rendova island, the KUNA rediscovered how uncomfortable it is to ride a bumpy sea with virtually no wind. A light southeaster (yes SE trades had come back that day after two months without wind!) was blowing but 8 knots were not enough to prevent the rig from bashing going down wind with occasional a 2 m swells.


Some large logs lost by the logging barges: something to no run into!

After a couple of mile of this, the KUNA turned around, opting for the more boring northern route around the New Georgia group, which has flat waters all the way and the same winds!


Stew has speared a barracuda and waves it good bye


After letting thew KUNA showing off in front of Peava with the red spinnaker, the winds died off and progress was slow: 18 miles achieved to get to the Kokoana Passage, which gives access to a variety of anchorages inside Morovo lagoon, including Matikuri Island, which has a nice sandy beach, and a hide in the lagoon behind Matiu Island, the closest to the passage.


Hide behind Matiu.

Nice and open anchorage, anywhere in the green (sand) with a nice breeze, the tongue of reef which extends NW on the right of Kokoana passage can be crossed through visible darker gaps in the reef, with a minimum depth of 3m, avoiding ovious brown bommies! The marker to bring in transit with island edge described in Sieling's guide does not exist anymore.

Chart SI07 (solomon Island survey, available in HOniara) shows some of these places in more detail though the survey is still imcomplete for the outer barrier. Eyeball navigation country, good for kites!!!

A canoe trip to Morovo Lagoon

Morovo is accessible by yacht but a good reccie was worthwhile before going in with the KUNA. I will give sailing and anchoring details later.

The purpose of this trip was also to gather some visual material for a conservation DVD. Many DVD players are found in villages and Solomon islanders watch whatever they can find! A good means of educating people about conservation values for their country appeared to spread a natural history DVD around, distributing it for free! This is only a project at this stage but hopefully will find its shape !


In Morovo lagoon, the effect of logging have been dramatic, due to erosion of ferralitic soils into the lagoon, covering corals with a deep layer of sediment in some places. Vangunu, the large volcanic island in the middle of the lagoon was clear felled up to 800m on most faces.

muddy waters in the lagoon


once the forest is gone, ferralitic soils quickly erode away, here behind an old logging camp

The lagoon was submitted for World Heritage Area in the 90’s but never won the status due to politicians who prefer getting the benefits of corruption money from the Malaysian or Taiwanese logging companies.

Interestingly, the neat villages shores of Ngatokae are bordered by fairly large houses built out of timbers. All are a fair demonstration of the large cash inflow that logging brought into the island ten years ago. The benefits of the cash introduced in the villages were transient and many unfinished abandoned buildings can be seen around the villages. Rarely, the cash from logging benefited communities either, but more the corrupted individuals who managed to sell the land of all and allow the destructive fleets of machinery to come in, fell and leave before the naïve villagers realize, too late, the extent of the damage.

a neat house, contrasting with the small coconut huts of other solomon places (see Tikopia)
This canoe attests of the large rainforest trees that were available to boat builders


Morovo is one of the few lagoons in the world surrounded by an inner and outer barrier.
On the way from the main town Batuna, to the outer barrier, we catch dinner: a school of bonito is pointed out by some excited noddies.

guide Robert brings in the bonito!!


On many lower limestone outer islands, the remnants of logging camps attest of past damages too. The mainly intact rainforest trees find a hard time to grown in amongst the bare limestone.


The outer islands, such as Porepore, host a large Goanna who generally gets attracted by the smell of fish cooking on the fire. They were easy to spot and photograph with that lure! The goanna is a special creature in Morovo. Being taboo, they are safe from the local’s voracity and a feature animal for a conservation DVD we’re making!


On the way to Porepore, we stopped at Patrik’s grandparent’s place, near Batuna on the main island of Vangunu, to drop of a bag of rice

Solomon rice 10kg bags can be turned into a hand bag and provide with map of the islands, in case you get lost –
Patrick’s grand parents are very healthy: at 90 years old, they still jump in the canoe and paddle to go to their garden and crouch like teenagers.

At 90 also, they have seen large transformations in their customs: less than forty years ago, headhunters coming from other islands were threatening people from Vangunu, killing them, eating some of them or capturing the chidren and raising them to later eat them. The upper ridges of the island are full of taboo sites with the skulls gathered by the headhunters. In some places, such as Biche village, people built fortified villages up into the forest to protect themselves from the head hunters. In those times, the Solomon island population was small and remained so with the many kills.

Patrick with his grand parents

They gave us large bags of Gnahli nuts to eat on the way, a delicious local nut in season from Sept to Nov-December. Removed from their fruit and shell, the Gnahli are roasted to get the best of their taste, a delicacy!