Batiki
Batiki
Island in Lomaiviti Islands, Fiji
Batiki (Fijian pronunciation: [ᵐbaˈtʃiki], also known as Mbatiki in English)[1] is an island of Fiji belonging to the Lomaiviti Archipelago.[2] The island is of volcanic origin,[3] with a land area of about 12 square kilometers.[2] To the north-east is Wakaya Island, to the east is Nairai, and to the south-east is Gau.
Batiki | |
|---|---|
Island | |
| Coordinates: 17°47′S 179°09′E | |
| Country |  Fiji |
| Island group | Lomaiviti Islands |
| Division | Eastern Division |
| Province | Lomaiviti |
| District | Batiki |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12 km2 (5 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 186 m (610 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 300 |
| • Density | 25/km2 (65/sq mi) |
Batiki's population of approximately 300 Fijians lives in coastal villages.[4] The economic activity of the island consists of farming and fishing.
There are four villages on the island: Manuku, Mua, Naigani, and Yavu.[4] Mua village is home to the residence of the chief,[2] island pastor, the health clinic center, a single flat-primary school building with a boarding facility and playground.[citation needed]
Batiki has a large interior lagoon of brackish water flanked by mud flats. A broad barrier reef surrounds Batiki with a channel in Nakasava on the north side of the island. A small portion of the coastal area is covered by mangroves, mainly in Wainiketei Bay.
— Watisoni Lalavanua, Ilisoni Tuinasavusavu and Peni Seru, The status of the sea cucumber fishery in Batiki District, Lomaiviti, Fiji (2014)[2]
The presence of nests of the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle has been recorded on the island.[5]
The island was devastated by Cyclone Winston in 2016, with Naigani village being affected the most.[4][6] The high chief of Batiki since January 2012, Torau Ni Bau Ratu Inoke Tuidelaibatiki Virivirilau, died on 4 February 2017.[7]
Batiki had a population of 324 people as of the 1966 census,[8] and 483 as of the 2007 census.[9]
The main source of income is from copra, pandanus (Fijian: voivoi), small-scale farming, and fishing, with fish being sold to the markets in Suva.[10][2] There is a sea cucumber fishery, which mainly involves male youths.[2] By 1987 a commercial seaweed farm was established on Batiki.[11] As of 2009 there were 42 farms on Batiki, with a total area of 13 hectares.[12]
Another important source of income for the locals is the Bula Batiki coconut oil firm, whose products are made from the island's bountiful coconut palms.[10][13][14] This business was started in 2015 by a British man named Callum Drummond, known as Kelevi by the islanders, when he won a grant from Cardiff University for the project.[15] The two other co-founders are Ellis Williams and Tim McKee.[10] In 2020 a coconut oil processing plant designed by CAUKIN Studio was built at Yavu village.[16][17]
There is a primary school on the island,[10] Manuku District School, with 71 students as of 2016[6] and 4 teachers.[2] There is also a nursing station at Mua village staffed by a registered nurse.[2][10][16][18] Critical cases are referred either to Qarani Health Centre or Levuka Hospital. The nursing station opening hours are from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on a daily basis, but it is also on standby after hours in case of emergencies.[citation needed]
The island has no airport or roads, so most transport is by local cargo vessels, small fibreglass boats, or via a shipping franchise that services the Lomaiviti archipelago on a monthly basis.[2][10]
- Taufa Vakatale (1938–2023), politician and educator.
- Pub. 126 Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands (12 ed.). Springfield, Virginia: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2017. p. 89. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- Lalavanua, Watisoni; Tuinasavusavu, Ilisoni; Seru, Peni (May 2014). "The status of the sea cucumber fishery in Batiki District, Lomaiviti, Fiji" (PDF). Wildlife Conservation Society. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Bayliss-Smith, Tim (1988). Islands, Islanders and the World: The colonial and post-colonial experience of eastern Fiji. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521268776.
- "Batiki Island Rebuilding Projects". Sea Mercy. 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Fretey, Jacques; Triplet, Patrick (June 2021). Ramsar sites and marine turtles: an overview (PDF). Translated by Zarrouki, Hanane. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- Kumar, Ronald (24 February 2016). "Wiped Out". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Luvenitoga, Jone (7 February 2017). "Batiki High Chief Dies, Aged 74". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- "Fiji: TC Winston - 21 Feb 2016" (PDF). Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- Martin, Rachel (21 February 2017). "Coconut oil firm's Northern Ireland founder hopes to help islanders on other side of globe to prosper". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Richards, Andrew H. (1994). "Fiji Fisheries Resources Profiles" (PDF). Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. p. 216.
- "Fiji National Agricultural Census 2009" (PDF). Suva, Fiji: Department of Agriculture. p. 42. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Kate, Talebula (16 February 2017). "In a nutshell". Fiji Times. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Madigibuli, Ana (26 August 2018). "Business on a remote island". Fiji Times. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Madigibuli, Ana (29 August 2018). "Home away from home". Fiji Times. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Sovasiga, Kelera (11 September 2020). "PM Opens Batiki's Virgin Coconut Oil Factory". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- Barandy, Kat (18 May 2020). "Fiji island community works with CAUKIN studio to build coconut oil processing plant". Designboom | architecture & design magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- "Health Facility Readiness and Service Availability (HFRSA) Assessment" (PDF). United Nations Population Fund. March 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
