Vanua ni Tui Cultural Center

and Wailevu Retreat

Site Analysis and Ecological Criteria

Taro Coconut Bananas
Pandanus Papaya Cocoa
Wailevu is a water-formed landscape framed by Savusavu Bay on the south and the Mt. Kasi mountain range to the north. Wailevu, literally "abundant water", lies in a shallow basin with multiple springs, three streams running from north to south, and a central wetland. A tropical ecosystem thrives here, balanced between a patchwork agriculture and native rainforest. A mature coconut plantation is underplanted with banana, plantain, pawpaw (papaya), casava, taro, yam, sweet potato, and kava. A multi-layered canopy and understory of mixed native and introduced species include mango, samana (raintree), pandanus, barringtonia, vau (hibiscus tiliaccus), ginger, mangrove, and a variety of grasses. Nutrients collected in the shallow basin of Wailevu create a fertile soil of organic mulch and sand. Preserving a balance between integrated agriculture and rainforest will be the objective for any future development.
Ecological Site Design Approach

All features of the design should be natural, using predominately local material or those of earthen elements, e.g. wood, fiber, glass, plaster. Heating and cooling stem from the sun and trade winds. Orientation to the sun and wind and construction of wall and windows/doors relating to environmental elements provide a natural, ecological habitat. Photovoltaic panels can convert the sun's heat into energy for hot water for bathing, clothes washing, cleaning and generators to power pumps to direct water flows (drinking, waste, irrigation). Roof rainwaters, stored in above and below ground tanks, can be used for irrigation of decorative plants, yards and flowers around buildings.

An axis mundi and the movement of the sun, should govern the form of important and spiritual buildings, connecting the land, the land with the sky.

Wailevu Beach
Specific considerations are as follows:

· Authentic restoration of the Vanua ni Tui ruins at the Vanua ni Tui Cultural Center

· Development of a herbal medicine gardens and wellness-spa

· An organic ecological design, working with the land, sea, air, and movement of the sun and wind to develop, a self-sustaining eco-design.

· Landscape design sensitive to the interaction of the sea, its relationship with the coast and its flora eco-system.

· Changes wrought by tides, high winds, and storms, flooding.

· Interaction of the two waters –fresh and salt - where they meet.

· Consideration of the effects – natural and man made - on the reef system.

· Strengthen the land's resistance to damage by flooding and erosion by planting indigenous vegetation.

· Remove foreign flora imports not ecologically balanced.

· Stream and springs are to be left in their original states, but tapped for water required for drinking, waste disposal and fish farming (fish, prawns, turtles, etc).

· Depths of the river and the rocks within them should remain as is.

· Rock and gravel for new landforms and construction should come from rock hills, not part of the eco-system of the plain.

· Placement of buildings and grazing ground for animals to be governed by the understanding that underground water flows to the sea and the waste water and drinking water must be separated in a manner that the natural underground flows will not commingle.

· Create separate zones for drinking water upside of buildings and wastewater downside.

· Site as necessary holding tanks for the storage of

drinking water.

· Create wastewater holding ponds with rock and diverse communities of microbial filters and use, after filtering, for crop irrigation, prior to entering the stream, river or bay.

· Tides should not be used to facilitate wastewater treat ment.

Site Analysis/ Ecological Criteria Plans

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Ecological Wastewater Treatment
Strategic Crop Planting Section
Wailevu Beach
© Copyright Beverly Willis 1999