Monuriki

Monuriki, also called Mondriki or Modriki, is an island of the archipelago Mamanucas, which belongs to the South Pacific Fiji Islands. The small, uninhabited island located west of Viti Levu, the largest island of Fiji.

Geography and climate

The island is of volcanic origin about one kilometer long and about 600 meters wide. The land area is about 0.4 square kilometers and surrounded on all sides by a coral reef. The highest point is 178 m.

History

After the mutiny on the Bounty on April 28, 1789 William Bligh took the open barge through which the northern Fiji Islands area. In general, he discovered on the way to Kupang was the first European multiple of the Fiji Islands group, which is why the maritime area north of the Fiji island of Viti Levu, which was cutting across and is located in the Monuriki, was named " Bligh Water ".

Monuriki was including through the movie Cast Away - Lost, with Tom Hanks in the lead role, is known. The location became a tourist attraction after the release of the film.

Flora and Fauna

The island Monuriki is one of the very few on which the endangered Fiji iguanas comb ( Brachylophus vitiensis ) live. These iguanas feed on a wide range of plants and insects. They spend most of the time well camouflaged in the branches of trees. The green lizard with white " zebra crossing " yellow nose holes and a back comb made ​​of horn tips can be up to one meter long. However, they are threatened with extinction and only come in a few thousand copies in each of the Western side of Fiji Islands as Yadua Taba, Macuata and Monuriki ago.

The higher vegetation consists mainly of pandanus trees (Pandanus ) and coconut (Cocos nucifera).

The lower vegetation has been eroded in the past by about 50 goats up on the rocks, making the food basis of iguanas was destroyed. Attempts during the filming of Cast Away to free financial incentives to the island of goats failed. With a new environmental initiative, which also includes an artificial breeding, the iguanas are to be saved.