Solomons - Walande Island - The Final Story

Walande was an artificial island - a rock platform made from lumps of coral gathered from the reef over several hundred years. In 1966 it had 200 inhabitants and the houses were built flat on the rock surface. In 2002, when visited by BBC Blue Peter presenter, Simon Thomas, the houses were built on tall stilts and there were 1,200 inhabitants. In recent years climate change has caused the sea level to rise and turbulence has all but destroyed the island. In 2016 there were only 4 inhabitants. Dr Ivan Haigh, Associate Professor at the National Oceanography Centre, assesses the impacts of Climate Change.

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Just found this video - so sad to see Walande has gone. I lived on Walande with Raphael Au and family for six months in 1968/69 whilst building the Rural Health Clinic at Tawaro. I was working for VSO. Such special memories of the Walande community, their fun, laughter and friendship.