Researchers from across the Pacific will gather in Fiji this week to discuss how to achieve sustainable farming in the region.
The Fiji International Landcare and Sustainable Agriculture Conference 2026 aims to bring together diverse hands and voices from across the Indo-Pacific.
Like the Fijian binding cord Magimagi, the conference will weave together three strands: people, livelihoods and landscapes, to secure the future of land and soil in the Pacific.
The SMC asked experts who will be speaking at the conference to comment.
Elenoa Biukoto, Earth Observation Technical Officer, Pacific Community (SPC), comments:
“The Pacific is facing further difficulties as a result of land degradation, climate change, and growing demands on its natural resources. Researchers, government representatives, communities, and development partners come together at events like the Fiji International Landcare & Sustainable Agriculture Conference to provide practical solutions that can improve sustainable land management across the area.
“I’ll be talking about how Digital Earth Pacific and open geospatial data are helping Pacific Island countries use satellite data to track changes in their landscapes. Governments can access pre-processed environmental data that helps with land use planning, sustainable agriculture, forest management, and compliance with international obligations, such as the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, rather than spending a lot of time processing raw satellite images.
“Improving access to high-quality environmental data is one of the Pacific’s major opportunities. Ministries, researchers, and local communities can make better decisions about protecting productive land, strengthening agricultural resilience, and responding to climatic and environmental changes when they have access to the same trustworthy data.
“I want to stress how important regional cooperation is. Many Pacific countries face similar environmental challenges, and sharing information, resources, and technical expertise allows states to improve their national capacity while learning from one another. To support sustainable development and create resilient communities across the Pacific, open and accessible geospatial data is becoming increasingly important.”
Conflict of interest statement: “I am a co-author and presenter affiliated with the Pacific Community (SPC), which develops and supports the Earth and Ocean Observations Team and Digital Earth Pacific. My comments reflect my professional expertise.”
Dr Nick Edgar, CEO of NZ Landcare Trust, comments:
“Landcare is a community-based approach to caring for and managing land, water, biodiversity, and other natural resources in a sustainable way. It most often involves local people working together to protect, restore, and improve the environment while supporting productive land use. Landcare operates in approximately 40 countries across the globe. It is a relatively new to the Pacific Islands, with considerable opportunities to support landowners and communities to further enhance the sustainability of agricultural practices.
“The impacts of run-off from agriculture effect coral reef ecosystems. Climate change is resulting in more adverse weather events in the Pacific, with cyclones causing devastating impacts on local communities. Now is the time to build greater resilience to climate change by adopting climate smart farming systems that reduce the impacts of adverse weather events on both natural ecosystems and human infrastructure. Adopting good management practices in farming systems can reduce the amount of sediment, nutrients and faecal pathogens travelling through river systems and ending up at the sea, effecting coral ecosystems.
“Landcare is a tried and tested approach internationally that can assist communities to protect and restore their environment. We are hoping the conference will encourage greater uptake and implementation of landcare approaches in the Pacific.
“We will be discussing the initiation of an Oceania Landcare Strategy in partnership with Pacific Island governments. We will begin with Fiji, and If successful, Global Landcare aims to expand the strategy to all Pacific Island nations. This will involve dedicated funding from Global Landcare to support sustainable agriculture projects on the ground in the Pacific. It will include providing access to a catchment management training programme developed by the NZ Landcare Trust. This programme has been successfully implemented in New Zealand, having already trained over 250 farming and community leaders in the art of catchment management. It will involve establishing a Global Landcare Pacific Extension and Learning Network. The network will aim to support continued training and capability development of Pacific communities in landcare and sustainable agriculture.
“Prior to the conference, there is a dedicated Landcare Masterclass Training Workshop on 6-7 July. This workshop will be hosted by Global Landcare in partnership with the Australian Centre of International Agricultural Research and Fiji National University. A group of professional facilitators, trainers, and subject matter experts from across the globe will be supporting a group of approximately 30 people from Pacific Island nations to build their understanding of landcare and sustainable agriculture principles and practices. The aim is for those participants who are trained at the masterclass to take their learnings back to their home countries and work with local communities to adopt landcare approaches.”
Conflict of interest statement: “No conflicts of interest to declare.”