The Fiji Islands in the South Pacific are highly exposed to climate-induced hazards and have experienced several flood and cyclone events in recent years. Drawing on a series of field studies in the lower Ba River Catchment on Fiji’s main island Viti Levu, the objective of this paper is to determine how climate adaptation strategies – employed by indigenous Fijian communities and households – are influenced by socio-cultural values and access to resources, information and power. Our multi-method approach has been conceptually informed by Agrawal and Perrin’s (2008) climate adaptation framework and included semi-structured interviews at the household level, and participatory hazard mapping with diverse focus groups at the community level. Our study finds that due to diverse value-based assessments of livelihood opportunities and climate-related risks, communal and household adaptive strategies can differ widely, even in a very localized cultural context. We also show how decisions to relocate from ‘risky environments’ are influenced by a combination of local power relations, attachment to cultural and social space, and the provision of external assistance. Our findings comment on the need for disaster risk reduction strategies to recognize how different groups and households respond to climate-related events in distinct socially determined ways.

Introduction

The Fiji Islands – like most tropical Pacific Island countries – are highly exposed to climate-induced hazards, such as cyclones, storm surges and floods, which are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity (Lough, Gupta, Power, Grose, & McGree, 2015; Chandra & Gaganis, 2016; Janif et al., 2016; Chand, Tory, Hua, & Walsh, 2017). Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu, has experienced a number of flood and cyclone events in recent years, with major disasters occurring in 2009 (floods triggered by Tropical Depression 04F), 2012 (two consecutive floods caused by Tropical Disturbance 06F and Tropical Depression TD17F in January and March respectively; Tropical Cyclone Evan in December) and 2016 (Tropical Cyclone Winston, the most powerful cyclone that hit the South Pacific Islands in recorded history). The Fijian government has identified 676 communities – most of them located in coastal areas – as being at high risk of climate-related hazards and earmarked them for future relocation (Leckie, 2016). The focus on government-led relocation in the national policy discourse may reflect a lack of trust in local adaptive capacity. While relocation may be alternatively seen as adaptive strategy, failure to adapt, or measure of last resort, the need to better understand and strengthen adaptive capacity of Fijian households and communities is irrefutable. This paper builds on research carried out from 2015 to 2016 examining adaptation strategies employed at community and household levels after two major flood events in 2012 affecting downstream communities of the Ba River Catchment in Western Viti Levu, Fiji Islands. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the objectives of this study were twofold: (1) identify the factors that enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of flood-affected communities, and (2) examine the extent to which adaptation practices are contingent upon socio-cultural values and access to resources, information and power.