Fiji gets to tell its own climate story in new books for children

Excerpt from aljazeera.com

A disposable mask flies out of an overflowing bin that hasn’t been shut properly; in the course of one night it encounters a seagull, a whale and a school of sleeping fish who fervently attempt to chase it out of their homes – afraid it might kill them, just like so many other scary things that humans carelessly throw away.

Masky’s Night of Adventure is part of a new ten-book adventure series created by a group of Fiji-based authors covering critical ocean themes spanning sea-level rises and pollution to ocean acidification and deforestation.

The colourful books are also part of a small number globally that address the need to include people living with disabilities in the fight for climate action.

“The ocean plays a big role in climate regulation,” said Milika Sobey, the Pacific Islands programme manager at The Asia Foundation, which initiated the project.

“While the ocean is so deeply embedded in the identity and culture of the Pacific Islands, many children in the region have already experienced firsthand the impacts of severe cyclonic events which are happening with greater frequency. They are experiencing firsthand the warmer ocean, the sea level rise, the destructive storm surges, the eroding coastlines and the trauma of relocation. But, we want Pacific children not to have to fear the ocean; rather they must be empowered to become respectful protectors of the largest aqua ecosystem in the world – the Pacific Ocean.”