Iva Nancy Vunikura
Fiji Oceans Champion — March 2025
When you think of the Uto ni Yalo, a traditional vaka, and the work it does for reviving traditional sailing, promoting sustainable ocean management, and decarbonising shipping, one of the faces bound to pop up in your head belongs to Iva Nancy Vunikura.
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For the past12 years, Iva has been a prominent feature on the deck of Mama Uto and other traditional sailing canoes in the region. She has clocked the most miles of any woman sailing such craft on her many voyages in and around the Pacific.
“After all my voyaging I have also come to appreciate the Ocean differently. Not just that it is what connects us to the other people of the region, but that it is the source of life for us as Pacific people.”
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Na wasawasa, our ocean, is the very heart of who we are as Fijians. From the days of our ancestors until now, the sea has been our provider, our protector, and the keeper of our stories. In our villages, we learn the ways of fishing in our qoliqoli from our elders - knowledge that has been passed down like a precious gift through many generations.
Yet, the ocean is facing many challenges from climate change to overfishing.
But the ocean is not just a problem it is also part of the solution.
Ms. Vunikura says, “We really need to protect it, we need to be more mindful of what we take from it, and how much we are taking.”
“We need to ensure that when we take from the ocean for commercial use, we are not affecting our own ability to feed ourselves, and of course the generations who will also come to rely on the ocean for their sustenance.”
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Through her voyaging Iva has seen first hand the effect of human activities on the environment.
“We need to make sure that whatever it is we do, whether it’s fishing, transportation, recreation, farming, whatever it is, that we take into account the effect our activities have on the environment.”
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“Our coral reefs which feed our people are affected by our farming practices, and the ocean is getting warmer from all our burning of fossil fuels which also has an effect on the climate and increased extreme weather events.
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“We need to manage what we take from the ocean today, and plan for how to keep fish in the ocean for our children tomorrow. This can only happen if we understand what we have in our ocean, and manage it for sustainability.”
And that is why the Government of Fiji has committed to fully protecting 30% of its ocean by 2030. Through the Blue Prosperity Fiji program, the government is taking action to sustainably manage 100% and fully protected 30% of its ocean.
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Iva’s Upbringing & Connection to the Ocean
Today Iva is the sail master of the Uto Ni Yalo, but her story began in Vione Village on the Island of Gau.
Iva was raised as any other village boy or girl in Fiji, outside, and active.
“Growing up in the village was hard, every day we would collect firewood for the kitchen, and we would be called to help our parents and grandparents, especially going out fishing and weaving with our grandmothers,” she said.
“I was in Primary School, maybe only in class 3 or 4 when I first had to go out and do these things.
“Everyday was a struggle but we made it happen.”
Her first taste of the sea was on her grandmother’s bamboo raft (bilibili) to fish on the lagoon. From a young age she was taught that the sea was a source of food, of livelihood, and it was respected as such.
“We would go out on the bilibili to catch our fish, that was my first real experience being of the sea.”
Iva, like many children from the maritime islands, moved to Suva with her family for a better shot at an education and life. But life deals us our cards and there is very little we can do but play the hand we are dealt.
“I lost my mother when I was 19 and I had to learn the ropes of living life as a young woman in the world without her to guide me.”
She found a home and family at the Young Women’s Christian Association Hostel in Suva.
“Some of the people I met there, the friendships I made, I count among my lifelongs.
“We have taken different paths in life but they have always stood beside me.”
Breaking Barriers: Her Journey in Rugby & Sailing
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Before the Fijiana Drua team was winning Super Rugby season titles, women’s rugby was still a fledgling sport, under intense judgement from the public who did not believe women belong on a rugby field.
Iva was one of the first brave young women who said “No, rugby is for everybody!”
“I was part of the first Fiji women’s team that took part in the Oceania 7s Rugby here in Fiji, back then it was a struggle for women’s rugby because people didn’t agree that women should be playing rugby.
“It was a barrier we broke as a team, and now we have Fijian women who are Olympians in Rugby 7s.”
And she is still breaking it.
Sailing the Uto Ni Yalo
When the Uto Ni Yalo set sail on its first voyages across the Pacific it created a stir, a wave, a reawakening to culture and tradition.
“There was a lot of excitement about it and I remember following the updates on the voyage.”
Some years later, the Uto Ni Yalo was calling for volunteers.
“I read something in the papers about the Uto Ni Yalo Trust calling for volunteers and then with the support of a good friend who pushed me to try it out I did and that’s how my feet came to stand on Mama Uto’s deck.”
At first she joined for fun, but after getting to know what the Uto Ni Yalo Trust was about, what they were doing, and the meaning of the work they were doing, it became clear to her that she had found her place in the world. She later got a job with the Okeanos Foundation sailing the small iteration of Mama Uto, the Vaka Motu, sailing around the Pacific.
“It was an honour for me to sail on Mama Uto and her sisters because I had only heard the stories about our voyaging history.
“I went from floating on the lagoon to voyaging the ocean.”
Until the late 2000s and early 2010s, the culture of voyaging was really only a memory, a story of times gone by, told to young children by their parents and grandparents.
“To be part of recovering something that was almost lost is a dream come true and I’m grateful to be doing this today.”
“To be learning the art of sailing and traditional navigation, and of course passing it down to the next generation of sailors.”
Apart from her keeping the Uto Ni Yalo afloat and sailing, Iva helps implement the Trust’s work to promote sustainable shipping and decarbonizing shipping.
Some of these include teaching communities how to build and sail canoes, inspired by tradition but constructed with modern materials.
“These canoes will allow people in our communities to go fishing or to go to neighboring communities.
“We are trying to promote travel that allows people to connect with each other without harming the ocean.
“We are trying to give people in the communities that need them, vessels that allow them to go fishing and come back home to their families, without adding on to the burden already placed on our environment and our ocean by unchecked and unsustainable development.”
“We are trying to revive culture, but we are also trying to change it, for the better.”
In 2024 she was given a paid position with the Uto Ni Yalo Trust, as the sail master of the Uto Ni Yalo.
“I get to do what I love, in a place I love, with people I mostly love, and I don’t see myself living any other way.”
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Sail to Tonga and Value of Ocean Conservation
Iva, in her capacity as sailmaster, took Mama Uto and a crew of volunteers to Nuku’alofa, Tonga for the 53rd Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in August 2024, taking a message
She embodies the values of Uto Ni Yalo as a true guardian of the ocean and a matua (elder) in the making.
Fiji Ocean Champions are advocates, leaders, and active participants in the sustainable management and conservation of Fiji’s ocean. They have a deep personal connection to the ocean, a demonstrated commitment to marine protection, and a willingness to take action to ensure a healthy and thriving ocean for future generations.
Just like Iva, Blue Prosperity Fiji is committed to protecting our amazing ocean by incorporating community consultations, scientific research, and traditional knowledge to sustainably manage 100% of Fiji's ocean space and designate 30% in fully protected areas while supporting ocean industries and fisheries management. By fully protecting 30% of our ocean we can secure a healthy and prosperous future for all of Fiji.
About Blue Prosperity Fiji and Uto ni Yalo Partnership
The Uto ni Yalo is collaborating with Blue Prosperity Fiji, a programme led by the Government of Fiji, to build awareness and support for a healthy ocean, thriving communities and prosperous economies in Fiji. This includes incorporating community engagement, bolstering Ocean Champions, supporting scientific research, and traditional knowledge to support the Blue Prosperity Fiji programme's efforts to sustainably manage 100 percent of Fiji's ocean space and designate 30 percent in fully protected areas while supporting ocean industries and fisheries management.