Tuvalu, a tiny and isolated Pacific island nation, claims the top spot as the world’s least-visited country. Due to its minute size at just over 26 square miles, it is not easy to find on a map. Tuvalu is located in the middle of the vast South Pacific, resting between Hawaii and Australia, and is made up of small slivers of islands. From an outsider’s perspective, Tuvalu is the typical paradise with white-sand beaches, tropical flora and crystal-clear water. So the question remains: why don’t more people go to this beautiful island nation?
A beach on Funafuti Atoll. Mrlins. CC BY 2.0
First of all, Tuvalu has no tourism infrastructure set up. It’s largely a noncommercial environment and is considered to be the world’s fourth-smallest nation in area. Tuvalu has the second-lowest number of inhabitants of any country, at just over 11,000, and is considered by The Borgen Project to be the fourth most impoverished nation in the world. In fact, Tuvalu was unable to join the United Nations until 2000 because it could not pay the $100,000 entry fee. The islands have been classified by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a “least-developed country” that is “extremely vulnerable” to the effects of climate change.
Tavau Teii, Tuvalu’s former deputy prime minister, at the “Graph of Injustice” in 2007. Oxfam International. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Suffering from food scarcity, lack of natural resources and rising water levels threatening to engulf the country, the effects of climate change are highly evident in Tuvalu. In an interview by The Guardian, Leitu Frank comments on the rising ocean levels affecting her family, her community and her island:
“The sea is eating all the sand ... Tuvalu is sinking.”
Tuvalu is the first country forecast to disappear due to climate change. Scientists predict that it may be uninhabitable in the next 50 to 100 years, but locals feel that it could come sooner. Fish, the mainstay of Tuvaluans’ diets, has also caused issues: 10% of the country’s weekly hospital cases come from ciguatera poisoning, commonly received from eating fish that ingested microalgaes expelled by bleached coral. When the fish are eaten by humans, a fast and severe sickness causing diarrhea, fever and vomiting ensues.
Tuvalu’s first female doctors. DFAT Photo Library. CC BY 2.0
Rising sea levels have affected not only Tuvalu’s surface area, where two of its nine islands are at risk of total inundation; they have also contaminated all underground water, making it impossible for islanders to farm their own crops. Tuvaluans have resorted to relying on rainwater for their main source of freshwater for drinking. But with rapidly changing weather patterns, droughts are becoming more frequent. The salty soil can no longer sustain crops of pulaka, which used to be a staple food source. Instead, the United Nations and neighboring countries like Australia export starchy, carbohydrate-packed items such as rice and white sugar to serve as alternatives.
Public water collection. DFAT Photo Library. CC BY 2.0
The climate change related problems facing Tuvalu have ultimately put the country on the path toward unavoidable evacuation and relocation. Tuvalu’s government and the UNDP have a series of possible plans in place to protect islanders from that fate, though. Ideas range from constructing a seawall, to raising the island by up to 20 feet, to building stronger housing, to even asking Australian mines to build an energy wall to break up the ocean’s natural power. All of these potential ideas come with problems such as reef protection and financial hurdles. Fiji has offered to give Tuvalu’s citizens land in their country and Australia has given them the choice of full citizenship in exchange for maritime and fishing rights. Both offers have so far been refused.
Australian aid in Tuvalu. DFAT Photo Library. CC BY 2.0
Moving away from Tuvalu is a fear that locals share because they do not want to lose their sense of identity, culture and traditions. Islanders are proud of their ancestry and enjoy their way of life, even if they face daily challenges. The community is strong, passionate and welcoming to all, but Tuvaluans will not condone defeatist ideas of moving away from their homeland unless it is the last resort. They hope for a long-term solution to the overwhelming problem of climate change; after all, the issue affects both Tuvalu and the world as a whole.
Yuliana Rocio
is currently a Literature/Writing major at the University of California San Diego. Yuliana likes to think of herself as a lover of words and a student of the world. She loves to read, swim, and paint in her free time. She spent her youth as part of a travel-loving family and has grown up seeking adventure. She hopes to develop her writing skills, creating work that reflects her voice and her fierce passion for activism.