Five star hotel Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa has appointed Mereoni Mataika as its Marine Programme Manager. 

Mataika began work at the resort recently, spearheading the development of a marine conservation centre at Yanuca, Nadroga. 

Mataika previously worked as project officer at Partners in Community Development Fiji (PCDF), a Fiji-based non government organisation that has worked closely with the resort on marine conservation for ten years. 

She has also worked with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pacific regional office and as an international intern with EarthCorps in the United States. 

Mataika holds a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) via the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT), a Diploma of Environmental Science and Certificate of Industrial Laboratory Technology. 

She will also assist in revitalising a range of programmes related to the Coral Gardens Living Reefs Programme and general marine conservation initiated six years ago by PCDF with Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa. 

“We envisage our Resort to become a model for climate change adaptation in the tourism industry in Fiji and we continue our support for this through the Coral Gardens Living Reefs project and other green initiatives that will be launched soon,” said resort general manager Daniele Vastolo. 

“We are going ‘green’ in a big way and this is the culmination of years of preparation as well as working very closely with the community here through PCDF, as well as through the overall development of the Resort through the years.

“We are part of an industry that is so dependent on natural resources and it is our responsibility to ensure that they are managed in a sustainable and responsible manner,” he said.