Soil erosion is threatening to destroy homes in Sawani Village which sits on the banks of the Waimanu River.

Climate change has resulted in severe flooding for years, and now weakened soil is washed away every time there’s heavy rain.

Turaga ni Koro, Anare Batigai says the climate crisis continues to affect their daily lives and relocation seems the only option.

Batigai says a new stream feeding into the Waimanu River was created last week after flooding washed away large portions of the riverbank.

“Landslide is a continuous issue here in Sawani. The village is in the middle of two rivers, the Waimanu and Soso River, and with the strong currents from the two rivers, they have merged last week causing a number of landslides affecting our food source.”

As they work towards climate resilience, Batigai says their children are at risk from the climate crisis.

He is requesting assistance from relevant agencies and non-government organizations to help the village relocate.

Sawani village is more than a hundred years old, and the 325 people in the area are willing to leave their ancestral homes before they lose everything to climate change.

The village situated next to Adi Cakobau School has 50 homes.