Fijian voices drowned out as seas rise

Rising sea levels have claimed the first row of houses in coastal communities and submerged cultural sights like graveyards.

Veivatuloa, about 35 kilometres west of the capital Suva, has lost four houses to the rising tide and half a dozen more will likely be uninhabitable by the end of the decade.

The first sea wall proved ineffective, with water eroding the embankment and going over the top.

The second consists of rusted corrugated iron sheets as a stop gap before the next row of houses.

Cycles and hurricanes which strike two to three times a year push water levels up further.

Tuiverata and his son Veremo are 14th and 15th generation villagers.

The Fijian government is working to relocate villages and communities threatened by rising sea levels.

"It's the 14th generation, how do you expect me to take it lightly like that, 'Move'," Tuiverata told AAP.

"To relocate the village is very hard for us."

The 50-year-old is questioning where the aid promised by the government is.

"The government says the money is coming in from Australia, from America. It's been 15 years time already, I don't know where they're taking the money," he said.

"We hope people on the other side of the world will hear our story. We need help."

Some kilometres down the coastline, Togoru has lost its ancestral graveyard to the tide.

The burial sight of Nicholas Dunn's grandfather had to be upended and moved along with generations of his ancestors.

King tides also threaten their properties. He says the soil erosion is hastening.

"We've moved what we can but we don't know how long that will last until it's in the ocean," he told AAP.

Climate change and pollution have also impacted fishing in the area. The 35-year-old never struggled to catch a boatload of fish when he was young.

Now, there's just enough to survive.

Rubbish "not from Fiji" also constantly washed up on shore.

With relocation flagged, he questions where his family will be moved to.

"This is our life, we live beside the sea," the fifth-generation villager said.

"If they're going to move us, they're going to move us inland, so we'll have to start over again. The only thing I know is the sea."

It would also deprive his family and his children of their cultural heritage.

"This land was given to my great grandfather. It means a lot to us, and for us to get up and move, it's like we're giving up something big," he said.

Mr Dunn remains concerned about the cost of relocating to land where he'll need to pay rent and buy food when he can't grow crops or catch fish - neither of which he can afford.

He's another Fijian questioning where promised help has gone.

"If the government built the seawall and it never stopped the sea, then we'd understand nothing can be done but they haven't done anything," he said.

The graveyard made international headlines when world leaders were shown the sight during the Pacific Islands Forum in July.

"There's been a lot of government funds, a lot of other countries have given money. Maybe they used it to build someone else's seawall," he said in jest.

This article was made possible through the Melbourne Press Club's Michael Gordon Journalism Fellowship Program.

Australian Associated Press