Lau Lagoon
Lagoon of LauLagoon of Lau
The Lau Lagoon is a 35 km long lagoon with more than 60 man-made islets and is situated on the north-east coastline of the Malaita archipelago, the Pacific state of the Solomon Isles. Synthetic islets are constructed on a cliff and the lagoon is home to a number of different towns, the biggest of which is Forau.
Mankind there is called the "salt marsh people", as opposed to the "Bushmen" who live in the inner part of the larger isle. For this reason there were disputes between these peoples, and the construction of the man-made islets provided a kind of shelter. Those rocks were made one by one, quite literally. Well, these rocks were made.
Part of the group took their boat to the lagoon and then dived to the rock, brought it to the top and then returned to the chosen spot and dropped the canoes. Life on the coastline was also more healthy, as the mosquitos that infest the fens were not found on the coral islets.
Farming is really important for the mainlanders, who grow marsh tar, yams and yams, as well as papayas, bananas, canes, coconuts andgreens. Since there is no official lodging on the isles, one can still ask one of the chief of the isles if it is possible to remain with them on the isle.
German DS documents climate shift in the Lau Lagoon, Solomon Islands
The DS has just finished a two-week military expedition to another climatic repression hot spot, the Lau Lagoon on the Solomon Islands' Malaita Isle. Lau Lagoon, located at the northeast tip of Malaita, encompasses 35 km2 of flat cliff. They are shaded by the Maana'Oba Islands in the northeast and are located in the western Pacific Ocean in the middle and south.
With 80 to 100 artificial reefs, each hosting between 5 and 400 humans, the safety of the lagoon is vital to many live. More and more of these archipelagos are now beginning to lie uninhabitated, as the inhabitants are abandoning the houses that have been demolished and fleeing the ever worse effects of CCP. The lack of appropriate lands for resettlement makes the population of the Lau lagoon fear for their own futures and those of the coming generation.
As part of our Climate Displacement Country Initiative, DS has been operating in Solomon Islands for two years and is hoping to be able to return soon to help the local population, the Church, civic groups and the governments find the most efficient and rights-based ways to help anyone in the Solomon Islands who has no choice but to find new landholdings as their present houses become more and more untenable.
The DS associated photographer Beni Knight document the realities of the Lau lagoon population, the gravity of which can be seen in the choice of photographs below. Soon DS will be publishing a photographic essays about the lagoon of Lau.