Seaweed or Sediment?

Climate Change and Mining Threaten Livelihoods of Wagina villagers

by Charley Piringi

For the people of Wagina, a small Micronesian community at the eastern end of Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, the ocean is not just a part of life; it’s a living. 

Villagers, of Kiribati descent, have parlayed their traditional relationship with the sea into a thriving seaweed farming operation — the largest of its kind in the South Pacific.

But their way of life is facing threats from both land and sea.

Climate change appears to be making traditional farming locations less viable, leaving farmers worrying about how to keep crop levels up. 

And since 2023, the nearby controversial Siruka nickel mine, owned by Filipino logger turned miner Johnny Sy, has been sending mineral runoff into nearby rivers. As operations expand and runoff clogs the foreshore, they fear that damage to their crops is inevitable. 

The challenges that nature poses are already enough. By sheer mischance, the Kamchatka tsunami in July left most of the Pacific relatively unharmed, but the surge was particularly high in  Wagina, and it devastated what was then one of the region’s largest seaweed farming communities.

“The waves destroyed everything, mature crops ready for harvest and new plantings alike,” said Tony Uro, a prominent seaweed farmer and buyer in Wagina. 

“We had to salvage what we could and replant. It’s a massive setback. I lost newly planted seaweeds worth thousands of dollars.”

For Tony, the disaster was both a reminder of nature’s power and a sign of deeper crises. While the high waves struck once, other threats are permanent and growing.

From behind a counter to a farm

Back in 2008, Tony left his job as a shopworker in Honiara, and returned to his grandparents’ home of Wagina. There, he began cultivating seaweed — the decision would change his life, and the fortunes of hundreds of his fellow villagers.

Starting with just 50 planting lines, Tony now manages five seaweed blocks with more than 2,000 string lines. His success, and that of others like him, turned Wagina into a regional seaweed hub, supplying Eucheuma to international buyers, mainly in China.

Last year, the Solomon Islands Government invested SDB$7 million to support local seaweed farmers aiming to have at least a thousand seaweed farmers, to produce 10,000 metric tonnes of seaweed by 2026. 

Currently, Solomon Islands, particularly Wagina, is the largest producer in the South Pacific Region, producing 2,500 metric tonnes annually.  

Image: Seaweed farmers working in the farm 

Seaweed farming became a vital income source for both the indigenous Choiseul islanders and the resettled Kiribati community. 

The Wagina people migrated from Kiribati in the 1950s and 1960s due to worsening drought and rising seas, also due to fears of nuclear testing by world powers in the region. 

Their first migration was from Southern Kiribati to the Phoenix Islands of the Kiribati group in the early 1900s.  

Today, average seaweed farmers in Wagina are earning around $10,000 (US$1,200) monthly compared to an average annual income for a Solomon Islander of $7,251 (US $800). 

But fortunes like Tony, that figure exceeds $100,000 (US$12,000) per month.

“We created a system where we rotate planting and as such we harvest daily, employing family labor,” Tony said. “It works. We depend on the sea, and we care for it.”

Tony is not only a seaweed farmer, but he is also a tourism operator. His newly built Otin Tai’i floating Lodge at the Wagina Crocodile Passage is up and running alongside his seaweed farming. 

However, with his seaweed farm, that balance has come under threat.

Wagina’s farmers fear the  slow but destructive impact of climate change.

“Our crops are rotting, and breaking away from the ropes. We don’t know why. And also the changing tides are no longer predictable. Some blocks have become too deep to farm. Stronger currents are tearing away crops. And when low tides linger, seaweed dries up in the sun and dies,” Tony explained.

While Pacific Islanders contribute negligibly to global carbon emissions, they face the harshest impacts of climate change. 

In Wagina, changing ocean temperatures and sea-level rise are not abstract threats; they are real, visible, and devastating to island life and farming.

The Pacific Community‘s Principal Agriculture Advisor and Aquaculture Specialist Chinthaka Anushka Hewavitarane said too much rainfall and flooding is not good for seaweed farming. 

He explained that in recent years, climate change has directly impacted seaweed habitats throughout the world, resulting in their rapid decline. 

“Rising ocean temperatures, reduced water quality, marine heat waves, invasive species, extreme weather events, and other climatic factors all contribute to losses in seaweed primary production and biodiversity.”

He added, “Seaweed farming in the Pacific region is a much more viable option for a lot of isolated communities and also we’ve seen a lot of climate change in terms of, especially the Pacific, where we’ve seen a lot more rainfall and for those who know about seaweed farming, fresh water is not very good.” 

“We have seen, you know, ocean acidification and that’s a really, really big problem because, you know, other aquaculture activities, especially bivalve aquaculture is being affected by ocean acidification.” 

He added the Pacific Community (SPC) is partnering with aquaculture research centres in Asia to develop new, climate-resilient strains of Kappaphycus (seaweed) for farming in the Pacific.

The initiative, in collaboration with the Network of Aquaculture Centres in the Asia-Pacific (NACA) based in Thailand and the Philippines, aims to introduce seaweed varieties that are more resistant to “ice-ice” disease caused by freshwater runoff, while also offering faster growth rates.

“We’re collaborating with the network of aquaculture centers in Asia-Pacific, in Thailand and the Philippines to actually develop these strains and bring them into the Pacific,” Hewavitarane explained.

A Looming Disaster

While climate change bears a global signature, the people of East Choiseul are facing another threat much closer to home.

Mining activities at the neighboring Siruka mines, which will cover the entire East Choiseil tip, pose even a severe threat. The Mining Tenement started at the North Eastern tip of the Island to South Choiseul. 

Many rivers in the tenement areas are feeding right into the sea, where sea currents normally run down the Rob Roy Passage and eventually Wagina where most seaweed farmers are from.

“What we learned from SPC experts who helped us with our farming, is that the seaweeds need clean and fresh saltwater,” Tony stated. 

“If sedimentation increases and mining waste gets into the sea, it will destroy our farms.” 

Community leaders and local officials also share his fears.

“Mining operations in Siruka were carried out without proper environmental safeguards,” said Choiseul Provincial Premier Harisson Pitakaka. 

Image: Sediments filled the Tukuku river bank in South Choiseul. Mining runoff from operations in North Choiseul.

“The provincial government was not properly consulted. We fear the damage to marine life and forests will be irreversible.

Premier Pitakaka added that his office is under growing pressure from investors eager to mine Wagina Island as well, a proposal he strongly rejects.

“Wagina and the surrounding islands are rich in marine biodiversity. They should be declared marine protected zones,” he said. “Mining would be devastating.”

Former Premier and Wagina Ward Provincial Member, Tongoua Tabe, voiced the same concerns, describing mining activities in East Choiseul as a grim reality.

“So the run-off will definitely run down to our side, and as we are talking now, seeing that the operation is here, sadly, it’s the making of our own neighborhood, not ours, but we will be greatly impacted.”

Tabe urged the expansion of seaweed farming as a sustainable alternative. 

“There are many spin-off benefits from seaweed farming. It already supports parts of Isabel and all of Choiseul. If the environment is damaged, everyone here will suffer.”

The SPC’s Chinthaka Anushka Hewavitarane affirmed extractive industrial wastes could be detrimental to seaweed farming. 

“You know, because mining is a very extractive process, they do release a lot of chemicals and also runoff in terms of turbid waters from the mining industry. 

“And turbid water is a big ‘no-no’ for seaweed because, as it clouds the water, photosynthesis is not as productive for the seaweed with these turbid waters. So, that’s one of the problems from mining and extractive land-based industries that have on seaweed.”

“If it touches coral reefs, it’s the same case. We have this fine silt that settles on the corals themselves.  And then because the coral photosynthesizes, they are not able to access the sunlight.” 

He added, “That’s been a big, big problem. And it’s been proven across the Pacific, especially Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and now we can see in the Solomon Islands as well. In terms of chemical release as well, there’s a lot of arsenic that is used for mining as well to purify the gold.”

Resistance to Exploitation

This is not the first time Wagina has faced the threat of mining. A few years ago, local protests stopped Solomon Bauxite Limited, backed by Hong Kong-listed companies, from extracting minerals on the Island. The dispute escalated to the High Court, where the Wagina community prevailed.

Yet the danger persists, the miners keep pushing their way in. Phosphate deposits continue to attract investors, and for many residents, memories of that legal battle are still fresh.

“The miners came right here, to the Crocodile Passage,” said Tony. “We stood up and said no. We will do it again.”

Women and Youth Speak Out

Wagina’s seaweed economy is deeply communal. Children help during school holidays. Women lead cultivation, drying, and packing operations.

“Seaweed supports us to pay school fees, our food, and our future,” said Norel Frances, a youth from Toara, Rob Roy Passage. 

“Mining promises quick cash, but we haven’t seen it. What we have now is giving us good returns, why destroy it with mining?”

Joana Maru, a mother and seaweed farmer, echoed similar concerns.

“What money are we really looking for? We are already earning from seaweed. But climate change is reducing our yields, and now mining will finish us.”

The Solomon Islands Ministry of Environment has acknowledged Transparency Solomon Islands’ (TSI) reports of environmental breaches by SNMCL at the Siruka mine site. 

Director for Environment Joseph Hurutarau said his officials are preparing to send a team to assess the situation, despite logistical and funding constraints.

“We have resource limitations, but we will attend to these reports,” Hurutarau confirmed.

Meanwhile, last month’s tsunami compounded losses, affecting more than 300 farmers and estimated damages worth thousands of dollars. 

The Choiseul Provincial Government and farmers are calling for national and international assistance to help farmers recover and rebuild.

Transparency Solomon Islands head, Ruth Liloqula, after completing their survey, made a bold call for the Solomon Islands Government to Stop Mining activities in East Choiseul. 

“It’s not only East Choiseul, we have the messed-up issue in Rennell already, lots of issues remain unsolved, and the government is not listening; yet it keeps giving out mining licences. Now Isabel and Choisel will repeat the same issues in Rennell.”

“The government must act. Stop for new and push the Minerals Resources Bill through Parliament.”

The Bigger Picture

Seaweed farming in Solomon Islands, once a small experiment supported by the Overseas Development Agency in the 1980s and 90s at Rarumana, Western Province, has become a cornerstone of sustainable coastal economies.

But the model is fragile. Without environmental protection, it will collapse. Wagina’s story is not just about one island. 

It’s about Solomon Islands and climate justice, corporate accountability, and Indigenous resilience. It’s a Pacific story, too.

“We are not asking for much,” Tony said. 

“We just want our waters to stay clean. We want our seaweed to grow. We want our children to inherit the sea, not the scars of its destruction.”

“This story was produced with funding support from the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme PACMAS.”