This was the first risk-perception study conducted in both the cultural context of Fiji and the industrial context of gold mining. Thus, all of the survey results are valuable to a more informed discussion about risk communication and management at Vatukoula. Perhaps the most prominent finding of this study is that men and women perceive environmental risks differently in the Vatukoula community.  However, in this particular context, women were not more concerned about environmental risks than men, as has been the case in other contexts. 

Research has shown that effective risk communication requires: 1) understanding and addressing audience concerns, and 2) whenever possible, accounting for existing beliefs and perceptions (Lundgren & McMakin, 2004). It is therefore critical that risk communication policies acknowledge and address the gender differences highlighted in this study. The results may thus also serve as a preliminary step in the development of a more effective audience-tailored risk communication program, which addresses the realities of gender differences in perception.  Important findings related to gender and risk include: women feel they have less knowledge about the environmental and health risks of mining compared to men; women feel they have less control to avoid the risks than their male counterparts; and women tend to find information about the risks from secondary sources.

Institutional and cultural structures have contributed to this particular form of marginalization of women in Vatukoula. The traditional roles and status of women in mining communities have changed, placing women in a position of weakened economic and social power relative to men in Vatukoula. The Fiji government has endorsed MDG #3, to promote gender quality and the empowerment of women, and has developed a Strategic Development Plan (SDP), which includes five major goals for gender and development. The first of these goals is "to mainstream gender perspectives, issues and concerns in the planning process (Asian Development Bank, 2006)."  By highlighting the key differences in the perceptions of men and women regarding the risks of mining, both during mining and post-closure, this study can contribute to the mainstreaming of gender experiences and perspectives. The following sections also include many recommendations specifically targeted at addressing the gender differences in risk perception identified in this study. Incorporating these recommendations into future mining activities will be critical if the citizens of Fiji wish to fully realize their stated development goals, particularly as they relate to gender equality and empowerment of women.

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Recommendations for Risk Communication and Management

An important obstacle to effective risk communication at Vatukoula is the existing level of distrust that has developed between the community, the former mining company, and the government. However, because the mine was recently purchased by a new company, this challenge may also be a golden opportunity to build a new reputation of openness and trust. For this to be the case, the new company must start from the very beginning with a well-planned and open commitment to risk communication. Timely and full disclosure of risk-related information will be crucial to this transition. It may be helpful to invite a credible organization which is trusted by the community, such as a civil society group that has not yet been involved in any of the past conflicts at Vatukoula, to participate as a partner in a new risk communication program. It is critical that the community view the source of risk information as credible, and a partner organization may help in the transition to a more trusting relationship (Lundgren & McMakin, 2004).

One potential source of distrust arises from a conflict of interest that exists in the environmental monitoring process at Vatukoula. The Mineral Resources Department (MRD) is the agency that is responsible for monitoring the environmental impacts at Vatukoula, but it is this same agency that is responsible for promoting the mineral industry in the country (E. Nasome, personal communication, August 9, 2007). This conflict of interest has the potential to further increase distrust of authorities when it comes to full disclosure of risk. In order to correct this situation, the environmental monitoring component of the MRD must be separated. This monitoring could instead be facilitated through monitoring agents under the recently passed Environment Management Act of 2005.

The former environmental officer for the mining company reported that community meetings were held on a monthly basis to address community concerns related to environmental risks, through an initiative called the Community Visitation Program. However, these meetings only achieved an approximately 30% attendance rate (J. Feresi, personal communication, July 16, 2007). In another conflict of interest, residents reported concern that the environmental officer was ultimately paid by the company, and thus had motives other than purely protecting the environment. While little is known about the content and conduct of the Community Visitation Program, it is clear from the low level of attendance and lack of community knowledge about risks that it was not highly successful. It has been demonstrated that risks can be downplayed in public gatherings, and that moderation and careful planning is required when group interactions relating to risk communication are to take place (Fessenden-Radon, Fitchen, & Heath, 1987). Specific strategies that may be employed to improve the efficacy of such meetings include the following:

• An appropriate time and place that is not associated with any negative feelings for the participants must be selected (Lundgren & McMakin, 2004). In the case of Vatukoula, this may mean having meetings away from company property, perhaps rotating between the various vale-ni-koro (community halls);

• Make sure all participants have a clear idea of the purpose and objectives of the meeting in advance. This could be accomplished through written notice to all households (addressed to the entire family, not just the mine employee) or through the various turaga-ni-koro (traditional village leaders) and through women's groups (soqosoqo vakamarama);

• Westech (the current company) should demonstrate support for the group by providing the necessary financial and technical resources for the meetings, including training of meeting facilitators and moderators;

• Citizen's groups and the MRD may be able to offer additional resources, particularly to bolster technical and facilitation training needs; the elected members of the Vatukoula Community Consultative Committee (a community group formed to represent community interests in the mining town) may be able to serve as moderators of these meetings if training was provided;

• Guidelines should be established for communication and organization, i.e. Who will facilitate and mediate the meeting? Will decisions be made by written ballot or a show of hands? Who will make decisions? (Lundgren & McMakin, 2004); and

• Specific attention should be paid to the inclusion of women at every stage of the risk communication process, including adequate and full notification of women regarding meeting times/venues, and separately allocated time for women to voice concerns and questions.

A firm commitment to the inclusion of gender considerations in the development of future risk communication and management strategies will be critical in addressing many of the gender inequities in risk-perception revealed in this study. The new mining company should support and encourage the participation of women during the development of new risk communication strategies. Women who participate in strategic development can offer insights into the best outlets for communicating risks to other women in Vatukoula. These insights will build upon the findings of this study to create a knowledge base regarding the most effective methods of communicating risks to a female audience. Financial resources and support should also be provided for women who wish to attend regional workshops and conferences aimed at educating and empowering women in mining communities. Finally, the Vatukoula Community Consultative Committee membership should be expanded to include equal representation of women and men. Currently the committee includes one female representative; additional women should be elected to increase women's access to, and participation in, the decision-making process.

One specific risk which has not been effectively communicated to the residents of Vatukoula is the risk of a tailings dam collapse or failure. There are six large tailings dams located in the region. However, while failures and releases of similar tailings dams have been documented worldwide (Akcil, 2006; Stenson, 2006), 77% of respondents in Vatukoula reported not having a plan to deal with this risk. In response to another question, 19% of respondents reported not knowing much about this particular risk, and wanting to learn more, while 53% reported being "worried" about the risk. This is clearly an area where risk communication could and should be improved. Although signage was placed at tailings dams, most signs were reportedly vandalized or removed, indicating that they have not been accepted by the community (A. Wesson, personal communication, August 15, 2007). Clearly, this issue will not have one simple solution, but must be addressed through the development of increased trust and confidence in risk managers. Additionally, accurate and specific information should be provided to all community members regarding the nature of the risks of tailings dams, and this must be accompanied by a plan to address a potential disaster. If accurate information is combined with a plan, then residents will feel that there is something they can do to personally address the risk. This will potentially lead to greater acceptance of future risk messages.

In addition to the intentional, official verbal and written risk messages that have been sent by the authorities at Vatukuola, it is important to recognize that unintentional, and non-verbal messages are also being sent. Indeed, unofficial risk messages can sometimes have more impact that official messages, in part because they may appear to respond to the real concerns people are facing, or are delivered by unofficial messengers who are more trusted than their official counterparts (Fessenden-Radon et al., 1987). One example of an unofficial risk message that may exist in Vatukoula relates to drinking water quality. In Vatukoula socio-economic divisions have historically existed according to race (Emberson-Bain, 1994). Today, many of the poorest villages remain ethnically Fijian, while housing settlements with better quality housing still belong to primarily ex-patriate, or ethnically mixed owners. The poorer, often ethnically Fijian villages also have reduced access to treated water. Instead, these areas are supplied with untreated drinking water directly from the Nasivi River. When company officials and authorities drink a different source of water, this sends an unofficial risk message that the untreated water is unsafe. These types of unofficial risk messages must be recognized and addressed or eliminated wherever possible. Fortunately, the new company has pledged to supply treated drinking water to all villages and settlements, and this will represent a step in the right direction.

Due to cultural considerations, Fiji may also be particularly prone to the challenge of collective interpretations of risk. These are another source of unofficial risk messages that should be recognized and addressed. For example, residents in Vatukoula perceive there to be a high incidence of asthma related to sulfur dioxide emissions from the roaster stack. In fact, 82 % of residents reported that they felt that air pollution was "somewhat or very likely" to have caused them health problems. As a result, even those individuals who have not directly experienced asthma symptoms may be less likely to accept official messages that sulfur dioxide is not responsible for asthma (Fessenden-Radon et al., 1987). In Fijian culture, a high degree of respect and trust are placed in traditional leaders (A. Emberson-Bain, personal communication, July 18, 2007). This means that if these local leaders are also affected by either personal or vicarious experience, or by the inter-community grapevine, people may be more likely to be influenced by the opinions of these leaders instead of risk messages from the authorities.

General environmental education, specifically as it relates to mining could also be an important long-term compliment to a risk communication program. There are three primary schools and one secondary school located nearby the mine. Currently, no environmental education is taking place in these schools. One teacher commented,
"We don't know that it (mining) is a dangerous job, smoke coming in, sulfur coming in, we just thought it was normal. But if there was advanced education on mining, maybe it's a different story (Vatukoula primary school teacher (name withheld), personal communication July 22, 2007)."

A wide variety of educational outlets should be considered. An educational video and website were created as part of this study; these resources represent two forms of communication that have not yet been explored in this community context. The projects could be considered as a test of these two communication outlets, and their effectiveness could be gauged so that improvements and recommendations for future projects may be developed.

Finally, there has been a relationship demonstrated between actual economic dependence on an activity and lower levels of perceived risk associated with that activity (Fessenden-Radon et al., 1987; Williams, Brown, Greenberg, & Kahn, 1999). Although this study did not find a statistically significant difference in level of perceived risk between people who had been employed by the mine and those who hadn't, there was a trend towards a slightly lower level of concern about certain risks among people who had been employed by the mine. However, nearly all of the people who participated in this study were economically dependent on the mine in some way, if not directly through employment. As long as residents feel that there are highly limited alternatives to living and working at Vatukoula, risks will likely continue to be downplayed and underestimated. As such, an important compliment to any risk communication program will be the continued commitment by government and local industries to foster and develop viable economic alternatives to mining in the region.

An open dialogue must be established as soon as possible between the new mining company, the community, and other stakeholders. This could represent an important opportunity for the introduction of increased public involvement and an improvement in the relationship and level of trust between stakeholders. The new company has pledged to hire only local people for management positions, and this would be a great way to begin getting respected and experienced local Fijian leaders involved in the risk communication process (Radio New Zealand International, 2007). In the cultural context of Fiji, having local leaders trained and placed in positions of authority could be a great way to increase trust and confidence in the risk communication process. However, it is critical that those authorities who will be responsible for developing and implementing the risk communication policies have the necessary technical training and the capability to translate this knowledge into terms that can be understood by the general public. The new company has a responsibility to provide this training; no risk communication program will succeed if authorities are not trusted and viewed as technically competent.

If an increase in the number of management positions available to local people occurs, it must also be ensured that women are encouraged to apply for and secure an equal proportion of these management positions. The development of additional training programs and scholarship opportunities aimed specifically at women, would help build capacity. Improved access to employment opportunities for women at Vatukoula will help address their lack of perceived control and lack of knowledge about environmental and health risks.

Ultimately it will also be important in the case of Vatukoula, that a more in-depth understanding of the perceptions and knowledge of the community be obtained. The risk-perception survey performed as part of this study represents a first step in this direction, however, further inquiries must be undertaken by the company and government if effective risk communication strategies are to be developed. The important role of the receiver of risk information, the Vatukoula community in this case, must be fully recognized; strategies for communication of risks must subsequently be tailored to the unique characteristics of this particular audience. The findings of this research indicate a clear need for risk communication to be improved specifically for women and residents who are not employed in the mine. These two groups appear to seek out information about risks from secondary sources. Programs must be developed which communicate risk information directly to these groups.

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Lessons for Mine Closure and Transition

The inherently temporary nature of mining was overlooked in Fiji, or perhaps intentionally pushed aside by some, until the time inevitably arrived when Vatukoula was forced to close. Only then did it become clear that the economic, environmental, and social impacts of the short-term venture could no longer be ignored. The ramifications of inadequate planning for mining closure are now borne by the citizens of Fiji. The residents of Vatukoula were totally unprepared economically and otherwise for the closure of the mine. In a recent article for Islands Business, Parmesh Chand, chief executive officer at the Prime Minister's office explained that Fiji learned an important lesson regarding mining closure.

"The laws of Fiji are very broad in terms of mining closure. Mining companies can just pull out and not meet their broader obligations in areas of environment, alternative livelihood, care and maintenance (Tabureguci, 2007)."

Mr. Chand's comment highlights an important lesson that comes from the recognition of the phenomenon of the resource curse (click HERE to learn more about the resource curse); legislation and institutional structures must be strengthened before mining activities are undertaken (Stiglitz, 2007). In Fiji's case, this means that if the mistakes of the past are to be avoided, much work is needed to strengthen tax and environmental legislation, and the institutional structures necessary for the enforcement of such legislation, before further mining takes place. In 2005, Fiji passed the Environment Management Act, however, the specific standards, manpower and court system needed to enforce the Act were not in place when the negotiations with Westech were completed (Epeli Nasome, personal communication, August 9, 2007). In addition to the potential long-term environmental consequences of this lack of regulation, it also resulted in Westech not being required to conduct a formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before beginning operations at Vatukoula (A. Wesson, personal communication, August 15, 2007). This was an important missed opportunity which may have negative consequences extending far into the future.

Secondly, the negotiation process is always critically important when it comes to resource extraction in developing countries. In this case, the concessions offered to Westech will limit Fiji's ability to capture and invest resource rents in other types of capital far into the future (which is a fundamentally required for sustainable development). It would certainly be prudent to seek out and employ expert negotiators in future negotiations with mining companies, so that the majority of gold wealth is not captured and exported overseas.

The contract being what it is, however, the government should now focus on making carefully planned investments in education, including the communication of the environmental and health risks of mining to communities in the Vatukoula region. The government should also work with Westech and other companies in the region, including Fiji Water, to make investments in alternative industries so that human and social capital can be effectively utilized after mining. Tourism would be an intelligent initial investment for the Vatukoula region. The mine is located along the road between two major tourist hubs, Nadi and diving island of Nananu-i-Ra. During this study, tourists expressed interest in potentially visiting a mining heritage site to learn about the history and culture of the Vatukoula mine. Westech does have plans to create an on-site museum and to employ the long-time strikers as storytellers (A. Wesson, personal communication, August 15, 2007). The company also mentioned plans to develop small scale tourism efforts aimed at the local hot springs in the region (A. Wesson, personal communication, August 15, 2007). These attempts to develop tourism could bring employment and financial benefits to the region while the transition towards more sustainable industries is developed. In the longer-term, the development of sustainable agriculture has enormous potential. Sugar cane is Fiji's primary agricultural good and developing sustainable methods of producing this product could bring a sustainable source of income to the country, especially with a developing international biofuels market.

Westech has promised to employ only local people in management positions at Vatukoula, and this could be not only a socially responsible move, but also a great investment in human and social capital for Fiji. Although mistakes have been made, one advantage for Fiji now is the amount of mining expertise that the industry has developed throughout the years. Experienced local Fijians successfully maintained the mine, without pay, during the period of shut down. Particularly if more business and management expertise were developed, there would be no reason why Fiji could not operate its own mining company in the future. However, this may require leaving at least a portion of their resources in the ground for some time, while capital (financial, human, and social) is further accrued.

Presumably the issue of substandard housing and relocation will be addressed at least partially in the RASD agreement. However, Westech admitted that the housing issue is extremely complicated and will not be resolved with one simple solution. Westech has proposed taking small steps to address the issue. They described a potential program in which monthly village clean-up competitions would be held in each village, with the winning village awarded a sum of approximately $500 to go towards modifying and cleaning the village (A. Wesson, personal communication, August 15, 2007). Although this may help relieve some immediate housing problems, this solution does not address the underlying problem: wages are poor and employees cannot afford to maintain their own homes. A certain level of responsibility is required of a company if a mining operation is to be socially sustainable. If a private company cannot or will not pay wages that allow workers to maintain a reasonable standard of living, then it is unlikely that it will be socially sustainable in the long term. In addition, the fact that Westech could not afford to post a bond for the rehabilitation of potential environmental damages further indicates that the company is not prepared to deal with the inevitable environmental and social consequences of the mining operations it plans to undertake.

As international pressure for improved environmental and social performance continues to increase, it will be advantageous for both the citizens of Fiji and Westech if the company establishes a voluntary and transparent reporting policy, including annual reports with full disclosure of social and environmental information. From a business perspective, international campaigns aimed at exposing poor social and environmental performance, such as the Oxfam Mining Campaign, draw negative attention to the mining industry in Fiji. Additionally, the financial sector is paying attention to corporate social responsibility, and mining companies have been excluded from socially responsible investing funds (Jenkins & Yakovleva, 2006). It also became clear during the negotiation process that the community itself is demanding increased transparency, especially related to social and environmental performance. Westech should thus follow the lead of many of the larger mining companies by establishing a company website and beginning to publish annual sustainability reports.

Many valuable lessons may be drawn from the story of Vatukoula for other mining communities throughout the world who wish to plan for longer-term sustainable development. At the same time, Vatukoula itself has an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and work towards improved environmental, social, and economic outcomes during this time of transition. This will require a strong commitment from Westech and the Fiji Government to work together in a cooperative and transparent manner. Such cooperative stakeholder collaboration will compliment the effective implementation of the recommendations which have resulted from this study.