Batiki
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Batiki
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| settlement_type = Island
| pushpin_map = Fiji
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| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Fiji
| coordinates = {{coord|17|47|S|179|09|E|region:FJ_type:isle|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint =
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flagicon|Fiji}}Fiji
| subdivision_type1 = Island group
| subdivision_name1 = Lomaiviti Islands
| subdivision_type2 = Division
| subdivision_name2 = Eastern Division
| subdivision_type3 = Province
| subdivision_name3 = Lomaiviti
| subdivision_type4 = District
| subdivision_name4 = Batiki
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| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 12
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| elevation_max_footnotes = {{cite book |title=Pub. 126 Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands |date=2017 |publisher=National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency |location=Springfield, Virginia |page=89 |edition=12 |url=https://msi.nga.mil/api/publications/download?key=16694491/SFH00000/Pub126bk.pdf&type=view |access-date=24 July 2023}}
| elevation_max_m = 186
| population_footnotes =
| population_total = 300
| population_as_of =
| population_density_km2 = auto
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Batiki ({{IPA|fj|ᵐbaˈtʃiki}}, also known as Mbatiki in English) is an island of Fiji belonging to the Lomaiviti Archipelago. The island is of volcanic origin,{{cite book |last1=Bayliss-Smith |first1=Tim |title=Islands, Islanders and the World: The colonial and post-colonial experience of eastern Fiji |date=1988 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521268776}} with a land area of about 12 square kilometers. To the north-east is Wakaya Island, to the east is Nairai, and to the south-east is Gau.
Batiki's population of approximately 300 Fijians lives in coastal villages.{{cite web |title=Batiki Island Rebuilding Projects |url=http://www.seamercy.org/Batiki |website=Sea Mercy |access-date=6 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205111745/http://www.seamercy.org/Batiki |archive-date=5 December 2022 |date=17 May 2016 |url-status=dead}} The economic activity of the island consists of farming and fishing.
There are four villages on the island: Manuku, Mua, Naigani, and Yavu. Mua village is home to the residence of the chief, island pastor, the health clinic center, a single flat-primary school building with a boarding facility and playground.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
Geography
{{Blockquote
|text=Batiki has a large interior lagoon of brackish water flanked by mud flats. A broad barrier reef surrounds Batiki with a channel in Nakasava on the north side of the island. A small portion of the coastal area is covered by mangroves, mainly in Wainiketei Bay.
|author=Watisoni Lalavanua, Ilisoni Tuinasavusavu and Peni Seru
|source=The status of the sea cucumber fishery in Batiki District, Lomaiviti, Fiji (2014)
}}
The presence of nests of the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle has been recorded on the island.{{cite book |last1=Fretey |first1=Jacques |last2=Triplet |first2=Patrick |translator-last1=Zarrouki |translator-first1=Hanane |title=Ramsar sites and marine turtles: an overview |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/documents/library/tortues_marines_ramsar_dec21_e.pdf |access-date=7 July 2023}}
History
The island was devastated by Cyclone Winston in 2016, with Naigani village being affected the most.{{cite web |last1=Kumar |first1=Ronald |title=Wiped Out |url=https://fijisun.com.fj/2016/02/24/wiped-out/ |website=Fiji Sun |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=24 February 2016}} The high chief of Batiki since January 2012, Torau Ni Bau Ratu Inoke Tuidelaibatiki Virivirilau, died on 4 February 2017.{{cite web |last1=Luvenitoga |first1=Jone |title=Batiki High Chief Dies, Aged 74 |url=https://fijisun.com.fj/2017/02/07/batiki-high-chief-dies-aged-74/ |website=Fiji Sun |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=7 February 2017}}
Demographics
Batiki had a population of 324 people as of the 1966 census,{{cite book |author1=UNESCO/UNFPA |title=Population, resources and development in the eastern islands of Fiji: information for decision-making |date=1977 |location=Canberra, Australia |page=13 |url=https://www.islandvulnerability.org/mabfiji//mabgr1.pdf}} and 483 as of the 2007 census.{{cite web |title=Fiji: TC Winston - 21 Feb 2016 |url=https://sheltercluster.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/public/docs/ocha_-_tc_winston_final_track.pdf |access-date=7 July 2023}}
Economy
The main source of income is from copra, pandanus ({{langx|fj|voivoi}}), small-scale farming, and fishing, with fish being sold to the markets in Suva.{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Rachel |title=Coconut oil firm's Northern Ireland founder hopes to help islanders on other side of globe to prosper |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/coconut-oil-firms-northern-ireland-founder-hopes-to-help-islanders-on-other-side-of-globe-to-prosper/35466315.html |website=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=21 February 2017}} There is a sea cucumber fishery, which mainly involves male youths. By 1987 a commercial seaweed farm was established on Batiki.{{cite web |last1=Richards |first1=Andrew H. |title=Fiji Fisheries Resources Profiles |url=https://www.sprep.org/att/IRC/eCOPIES/Countries/Fiji/9.pdf |website=Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme |page=216 |date=1994}} As of 2009 there were 42 farms on Batiki, with a total area of 13 hectares.{{cite web |title=Fiji National Agricultural Census 2009 |url=https://spccfpstore1.blob.core.windows.net/digitallibrary-docs/files/32/328aa68908f072dd9d1a1ef2fb26b15e.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=uLH42sC54ArNhFT3tXrSKkBGhqePRDf4qVMVR4mO7T8%3D&se=2023-09-23T18%3A02%3A45Z&sp=r&rscc=public%2C%20max-age%3D864000%2C%20max-stale%3D86400&rsct=application%2Fpdf&rscd=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22Fiji_2009_Agriculture_Census_report.pdf%22 |publisher=Department of Agriculture |access-date=6 July 2023 |location=Suva, Fiji |page=42}}
Another important source of income for the locals is the Bula Batiki coconut oil firm, whose products are made from the island's bountiful coconut palms.{{cite web |last1=Kate |first1=Talebula |title=In a nutshell |url=https://www.fijitimes.com/in-a-nutshell/ |website=Fiji Times |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=16 February 2017}}{{cite web |last1=Madigibuli |first1=Ana |title=Business on a remote island |url=https://www.fijitimes.com/business-on-a-remote-island/ |website=Fiji Times |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=26 August 2018}} This business was started in 2015 by a British man named Callum Drummond, known as Kelevi by the islanders, when he won a grant from Cardiff University for the project.{{cite web |last1=Madigibuli |first1=Ana |title=Home away from home |url=https://www.fijitimes.com/home-away-from-home-6/ |website=Fiji Times |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=29 August 2018}} The two other co-founders are Ellis Williams and Tim McKee. In 2020 a coconut oil processing plant designed by CAUKIN Studio was built at Yavu village.{{cite web |last1=Sovasiga |first1=Kelera |title=PM Opens Batiki's Virgin Coconut Oil Factory |url=https://fijisun.com.fj/2020/09/11/pm-opens-batikis-virgin-coconut-oil-factory/ |website=Fiji Sun |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=11 September 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Barandy |first1=Kat |title=Fiji island community works with CAUKIN studio to build coconut oil processing plant |url=https://www.designboom.com/architecture/caukin-studio-coconut-oil-processing-plant-bula-batiki-fiji-05-18-2020/ |website=Designboom {{!}} architecture & design magazine |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=18 May 2020}}
Infrastructure
There is a primary school on the island, Manuku District School, with 71 students as of 2016 and 4 teachers.{{cite web |last1=Lalavanua |first1=Watisoni |last2=Tuinasavusavu |first2=Ilisoni |last3=Seru |first3=Peni |title=The status of the sea cucumber fishery in Batiki District, Lomaiviti, Fiji |url=https://fiji.wcs.org/Portals/82/reports/The%20status%20of%20sea%20cucumber%20fishery%20in%20Batiki%20district%20lomaiviti%20Fiji%281%29.pdf?ver=2016-11-13-185217-787 |website=Wildlife Conservation Society |access-date=6 July 2023 |date=May 2014}} There is also a nursing station at Mua village staffed by a registered nurse.{{cite web |title=Health Facility Readiness and Service Availability (HFRSA) Assessment |url=https://pacific.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/hfrsa_assessment_fiji_preview_18march.pdf |website=United Nations Population Fund |access-date=7 July 2023 |date=March 2020}} Critical cases are referred either to Qarani Health Centre or Levuka Hospital. The nursing station opening hours are from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on a daily basis, but it is also on standby after hours in case of emergencies.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
The island has no airport or roads, so most transport is by local cargo vessels, small fibreglass boats, or via a shipping franchise that services the Lomaiviti archipelago on a monthly basis.
Notable people
- Taufa Vakatale (1938–2023), politician and educator.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Lomaiviti}}
{{Islands of Fiji}}
{{authority control}}
{{Fiji-geo-stub}}