Professor Joeli Veitayaki

Job Title

Name of Organization

Primary Email

Acting Campus Director, USP Samoa Campus

University of the South Pacific (USP)

[email protected]

Brief Biography

Professor Joeli Veitayaki is a trained teacher who obtained his PhD in Environment Management and Development from the National Centre of Development Studies (NCDS) at the Australian National University. An Associate Professor at the USP’s School of Marine Studies, he is currently the Acting Campus Director at the USP Samoa Campus in Apia, Samoa. He is also Director for the International Ocean Institute Pacific Islands based at the USP in Suva, is Co-Chair of the Korea-South Pacific Ocean Forum (KOSOPFF) and is a member of the High Level Panel of Experts for a Sustainable Ocean Economy assembled by the World Resource Institute in support of the High Level Panel on the Sustainable Ocean Economy. He has worked at the USP for 30 years during which he has collaborated with Governments, non government organisations, development partners and local communities on the sustainable development. He has managed all or parts of the initiatives of the Lomani Gau local community network in Gau Island, in Fiji which has attracted over US $300,000.

Field of Interests

Joeli’s research interests and published papers and books are in the areas of coastal fisheries, indigenous knowledge, traditional resources management systems, capacity building, climate change, disaster risk reduction, community based resource management, sustainable rural development, the Law of the Sea, maritime transport and regional cooperation in the Pacific Islands. He has worked as a researcher and trainer in most of the Pacific Island Countries, Australia, Canada, USA, Portugal, Japan, France, Norway and Korea.

Fields of Expertise

  • Adaptive Management
  • Aquaculture & Fisheries
  • Climate Change
  • Community Development
  • Disaster Risk Reduction
  • Environmental Management
  • Fisheries Management
  • Food Security, Safety and Certification
  • Governance and Policy
  • Integrated Rural Development
  • Livelihoods and Social Issues
  • Ocean Management
  • Partnership
  • Rural Development

Current Research Projects

Lomani Gau: an integrated community based resource management initiative Improving the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Fiji High Level Panel on Blue Economy https://www.oceanpanel.org/ Sustainable Fisheries Development in the Pacific Islands Fiji National Ocean Policy International Ocean Institute- Pacific Islands Korea South Pacific Fisheries Forum (KOSOPFF) Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification in the Pacific Sustainable Maritime Transport

Key Publications

Veitayaki, J., Ram Bidesi, V., Matthews, E., Gibson, L. & Vuki, V. (1995). Overview of Destructive Fishing Practices in the Pacific Islands Region. Brisbane: SPREP. https://www.sprep.org/att/publication/Retro/Nature-Conservation/Overview_destructive_fishingRSS93.pdf

Veitayaki, J. (1997). Traditional marine resource management practices used in the Pacific Islands: an agenda for change. Ocean and Coastal Management, 37(1), 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0964-5691(96)00069-5

Veitayaki, J. (1998). Traditional and community based marine resources management system in Fiji: An evolving integrated process. Coastal Management, 26 (1), 47-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/08920759809362342

Veitayaki, J. (2002). Taking advantage of indigenous knowledge: the Fiji case. International Social Science Journal, 54(173), 395-402. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1468-2451.00391

Veitayaki, J. (2006). Caring for the environment and the mitigation of natural extreme events in Vanuaso Tikina, Gau Island, Fiji: A self-help community initiative. Island Studies Journal 1 (2), 239-252. https://islandstudies.ca/sites/vre2.upei.ca.islandstudies.ca/files/u2/ISJ-1-2-2006-Veitayaki-review-essay.pdf

Veitayaki, J. (2010). Pacific Islands drowning in their waste: waste management issues that threaten sustainability. In Proceedings of International Seminar on Islands and Oceans 2010 (pp. 19–33). Tokyo: Ocean Policy Research Foundation. https://www.spf.org/en/_opri_media/publication/pdf/201003_ISBN978_4_88404_234_9.pdf

Veitayaki, J. (2014) Vakarau ni se Siga Toka (prepare while there is time): Lomani Gau’s response to Climate Change. In Qalo, R. (ed). Pacific Voices Local Government and Climate Change. (pp. 85-101). Suva: USP. PACE-SD and Commonwealth Local Government Pacific Forum. https://www.academia.edu/30544113/Vakarau_ni_se_Siga_Toka_Prepare_while_there_is_time_Lomani_Gaus_response_to_climate_change

Remling, Elise and Veitayaki, J. (2016) Community-based action in Fiji’s Gau Island: a model for the Pacific? International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 8 (3). pp. 375-398. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-07-2015-0101

Ledua, E. and Veitayaki, J. (2018) Balancing Sustainable Tuna Resource Management and Economic Development: Small Island Developing States Perspectives. 362 – 367 in International Ocean Institute – Canada (ed) The Future of Ocean Governance and Capacity Development Essays in Honor of Elizabeth Mann Borgese (1918 – 2002) Brill Nijhoff Lenden/Boston.

Veitayaki, J. and E. Holland, (2018) Lessons from Lomani Gau Project, Fiji: a local community’s response to climate change. Pp. 121-136 in Crook, T. and P. Rudiak-Gould (eds.) Pacific Climate Cultures: Living Climate Change in Oceania. Warsaw/ Berlin: De Gruyter.

Veitayaki, J. (2018) Ocean in Us: Security of Life in the World’s Largest Ocean. Pacific Studies, Vol. 41, No. 1—Apr. 2018.

Veitayaki, J, Ledua, E., Nakoro, A., Hong, H.P., Han, D.P, Moon, S., Breckwoldt, A., (2018) Future Use of Past Practices: Policy Implications of Insights from Two Community-based Marine Resources Management Initiatives in Fiji. (Aldo Chircop, Scott Coffen-Smout, and Moira McConnell (eds.). Ocean Yearbook 32: 376 – 406.

Veitayaki, J. (2019) Breaking the Coup Culture through Effective Rural Development. Pp. 287-309 in Firth, S. Naidu, V. (eds.) Understanding Oceania Celebrating the University of the South Pacific and its collaboration with The Australian National University. Pacific Series. DOI: http://doi.org/10.22459/UO.2019

Hidalgo, D.M., Nunn, P.D., Beazley, H., Sovnasalevu, J. and Veitayaki, J. (2021) Climate change adaptation planning in remote contexts: insights from community-based natural resource management and rural development initiatives in the Pacific Islands. Climate and Development Https: doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2020.1867046.

Postal Address

University of the South Pacific Samoa Campus, Alafua, Apia, Samoa. University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Road, Suva, Fiji.

Phone Number

(685) 21671; (679) 323 2960

(c) CIRDAP – all rights reserved

(c) CIRDAP – all rights reserved

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