Cicia () is a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an island of the Lau Group. One of the Northern Lau Islands, Cicia is

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

and is composed of raised

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

. Its area is . Cicia is inhabited and has a Public Works Department depot, a

jetty A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...

, and an airstrip,

Cicia Airport Cicia Airport is an airport serving Cicia, one of the Lau Islands in the Eastern Division of Fiji. It is operated by Airports Fiji Limited. Facilities The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway I ...

. There are five villages on the island namely: Lomati, Mabula, Naceva, Natokalau and Tarakua. Tarakua is the chiefly village, with its chief being paramount on Cicia. There is a road which encircles the island and connects all villages. There are two agricultural estates. The local economy mainly depends on

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

. The

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea, and introduced to New Zealand, and the Fijian island of Taveuni. Although once considered to be three separate ...

''(Gymnorhina tibicen)'' was introduced to Cicia in order to control

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

pests and is now endemic to the island.

Declared Organic Island 2013

The Organic Island Cicia has committed to having 100% of its farm agriculture produced organically. In June 2013 the island's leaders declared Cicia organic, and this has been certified by COMA. The agency worked with farmers to explain the Participatory Guarantee System and their roles in promoting and protecting the PGS. COMA continues to raise awareness in the schools and community about the organic certification. COMA's Certification Committee monitor's the operation of the PGS to ensure it adheres to the guidelines. To achieve this, the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom) with the support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), is working with members of the Cicia Rural Development Committee and the community. Together they are building farmer capacity through a method of organic certification known as a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), and developing local market chains for organic produce. Another Pacific island to have made this commitment is

Abaiang Abaiang, also known as Apaiang, Apia, and in the past, Charlotte Island, in the Northern Gilbert Islands, is a coral atoll of Kiribati, located in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Abaiang was the island of the first missionary to arrive in the G ...

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

.Paull, John (2017
"Four New Strategies to Grow the Organic Agriculture Sector"
Agrofor International Journal, 2(3):61-70.

Declared Organic Island 2013

References

Further reading