Fongafale

Home - Independent Countries - Tuvalu - Fongafale
Fongafale

Fongafale

Fongafale is the largest of the Funafuti islets in Tuvalu. It is a long, thin strip of land, stretching 12 kilometers long and ranging from 10 to 400 meters wide, with the Pacific Ocean and the reef on its eastern side and the protected lagoon on its western side. Funafuti was in the path of Cyclone Bebe in 1972, which knocked down 90% of the houses and trees on Fongafale. The surge from the storm created a wall of coral rubble on the ocean side of Fongafale and Funafala which was about 16 km long and about 3 to 6.1 meters thick at the bottom. You can reach the Funafuti Conservation Area from the main island of Fongafale by boat, 15 km across the lagoon. The Conservation Area covers an area of 33 square kilometers of reef, lagoon and motu at the western side of Funafuti Atoll in Tuvalu. The reserve's marine environment includes reefs, lagoons, channels and oceans, and is home to a wide variety of fish, corals, algae and invertebrates. According to Tuvalu's 2009 National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, the marine environment includes six main ecosystem types: ocean, outer reef, lagoon, back reef, lagoon floor and patch reefs, as well as natural channels between the ocean and lagoon. The islets are nesting grounds for Green Sea Turtles, which is on the IUCN Red List, as a Critically Endangered species. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme lists two other species of turtles occurring in Tuvalu, the Hawksbill Sea Turtle and the Leatherback Sea Turtle, and recognizes both species as critically endangered.