Current view: Text account
Site description (2006 baseline):
Site location and context
Vaturu is the water catchment for the Vaturu Dam, the main water supply for the town and port of Nadi. Koroyanitu is the forested part of the Mt Evans mountain range to the west of Viti Levu’s central highlands, containing Mt Koroyanitu, Fiji’s third highest peak (1,195m asl). It is only 16 km from Lautoka, Fiji’s second largest city.
Koroyanitu and Vaturu are important in conserving the geographical distribution of Fiji's restricted-range species. They have drier forests than those in eastern Viti Levu and support a different sub-set of Fiji’s forest birds.The nationally threatened Peregrine Falcon nests in the Koroyanitu cliffs and hunts over the IBA.
A1 Globally threatened species
* Friendly Ground-dove (VU) – fairly common at Vaturu
* Black-faced Shrikebill (VU) – rare at Vaturu
* Masked Shining Parrot (NT) – fairly common at Vaturu and Koroyanitu
A2 Restricted-range species
22 species (out of 25 on Viti Levu), including two of the three endemic to Viti Levu.
Non-bird biodiversity: Koroyanitu and the Mt Evans range is a hot-spot for endemic plants including two species found nowhere else in the world, Aglaia evansensis (CR) and Syzygium minus (EN). The vertebrate fauna of Koroyanitu includes the Fijian Tree Frog (NT), but no biodiversity surveys have been undertaken at Vaturu.
Koroyanitu and Vaturu are the two largest forest blocks in the drier west of Viti Levu. The Vaturu catchment has been extensively logged but is mostly old-growth forest. This lowland forest is transitional between the dry forests at lower altitudes and the wet forests to the east, with a more open understorey than the wet forests of other IBAs in central and east Viti Levu. The reservoir has some fringing wetland vegetation and open water but is of little ornithological interest. The IBA boundaries include all the contiguous dense forest. The IBA is mostly montane rainforest, transitional between the dry forests of the western lowlands and the wet forests of the centre and east of Viti Levu. Forest remains on the steep slopes and peaks of the mountain range but the lower slopes have been cleared for agriculture, some becoming fire-maintained grasslands. The IBA follows NLTB in recognising the conservation area as including all forest above 300 m altitude.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Agricultural intensification/expansion; burning of vegetation; selective logging/cutting; invasive alien species
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
This IBA is better protected than many but small scale forest loss from expanding small-scale agriculture and fire is still a threat. The impact of invasive alien species is poorly known and needs further research. Koroyanitu National Heritage Park is a community-based conservation and tourism project based primarily in Abaca and Navilawa villages, initially supported by NLTB, SPREP and NZAID, now assisted by the National Trust of Fiji.
Community support is partly dependent on the income generated from accommodating and guiding tourists, so sustainable conservation requires an ongoing flow of visitors. The forest at Vaturu is protected to conserve the water supply for Nadi. Access to Vaturu is restricted, and should be protected against both logging and agricultural expansion. Both sites are close to Fiji’s main tourist hub at Nadi – Koroyanitu already receives many visitors and a similar ecotourism initiative could be established around Vaturu.
This IBA is part of the Koroyanitu National Heritage Park. This designation has no legal status in Fiji but is used here to denote areas where land-owners, the Native Land Trust Board and the government have agreed to protect nationally imprortant natural and cultural values and to assist their protection by the development of ecotourism
The land tenure across the IBA comprises 86 Native Lands (totalling about 15,411 ha) and eight Crown Lands (about 1,584 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Koroyanitu / Vaturu (Fiji). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/koroyanitu--vaturu-iba-fiji on 22/12/2024.
