Pulega a Ali’i ma Faipule of Magiagi and Members of the Samoa Conservation Society, at the opening of the Magiagi Conservation Area on April 20, 2014 Sign board at the Magiagi Conservation Area
By Staff Writer
Magiagi Village has added 114 hectares of rainforest and the historical ‘Fale Ole Fe’e’ monument, to its growing list of natural sites safeguarded for conservation.
The sites are in the newest Conservation Area for Samoa, that officially opened in the village on 20 April 2024.
More than 27 bird species including pigeons, doves, and a number of seabirds are found in the rainforest, ridges and streams inside the newly protected area.
So too is the ‘Fale Ole Fe’e’, one of Samoa’s most important historical monuments, to offer asa ‘particularly interesting and unusual’ demonstration that nature and culture can be saved together.
The Samoa Conservation Society is the force behind the safeguarding effort and are grateful to the village leaders for their ‘guidance and leadership’ in the project.
The Society is hopeful that ‘over time’ the new conservation area will be extended to connect with the O le Pupu Pu’e National Park, 2kms to the south.
Magiagi was added to the list of Manuma Friendly Villages about two years ago in September 2022, with the pledge to safeguard Samoa’s national bird, the Manumea.
Manumea Friendly Villages are committed to reduce or eliminate hunting of Manumea and native pigeons, reduce forest loss and restore degraded forest, manage invasive species and develop alternative livelihoods that enhance nature, such as nature based tourism.