The Waikalou creek Mangrove Forest and River catchment area represents a uniquely preserved environment only 40 minutes from Suva. Mature Mangrove Forests containing Mangroves that have been growing for hundreds of years grow along the creek and provide an important breeding ground for Marine Life that in turn attracts tourist dollars through free diving, shark diving and tagging, and fishing. The Mangroves also offer protection from flooding for the local community at Waikalou and a barrier in times of cyclones and flood waters for Ranadi Plantation which is an organic farm that has been proudly farming for over 50 years. The Mangroves also help to stop coastal erosion, and resorts such as Uprising have recently suffered a bout of sever erosion as a result of what is though to be a combination of the result of changes to the surrounding coastline through development and the Climate effects of El Nino. Companies and partnerships such as Uprising and Ranadi naturally provide jobs and create tourist dollars so they are one source of economic benefit for the community. The key is to grow tourism in the area sustainably and this means preserving the Mangroves for future generations and for tourists to enjoy. Some of the Mangrove forests in the Waikalou Creek exist on freehold land, however the government’s new Mangrove Plan which has yet to come into force should make certain that these Mangroves are preserved and even where Freehold title exists, freeholders who are part of the community in the Waikalou Creek area have traditionally respected the respective Ngoi Ngoi Rights of the villages in the area who depend on the Mangrove for their fishing and traditional activities and economic needs. Much research has been done into Mangroves in countries like Sri Lanka where direct monetary assessments of the benefit of the preservation of Mangroves to local people have taken place. In Sri Lanka the collective mangrove products afforded by the maintenance of healthy Mangrove forests such as those in Waikalou creek represent a total gross value of US 1,171 / household / year, for a household that collect mangrove products sustainably according to traditional ways. As far as the dependence of different income groups are concerned, in Sri Lanka the total mangrove dependence / household / year has been calculated at US $ 1,577 for the poor, 1,431 and 806 for the medium and rich groups respectively, showing an increased dependence for poorer people’s economic well-being on the preservation of the Mangrove. Hence it is vital that the Waikalou Creek Mangrove Forest be regarded as a protected Marine and Mangrove Forest environment. Ranadi Plantation Partnership which is a partnership of two Hong Kong companies has applied to make the Mangroves protected and is working with the local Ngoi Ngoi Rights holders in order to ensure their continued customary sustainable fishing rights can be enjoyed for generations to come. Ranadi Plantation Partnership and the Waikalou community at large recently received assurances from the PA Serua’s office that the PA Serua shares in the desire for the Mangroves to be protected at all costs from any potential threats and that the PA Serua supports Ranadi Plantation Partnerships Plan for the Mangrove Forrest of and Marine environment of the waters of the Waikalou Creek to become a Marine protected environment. Ranadi Plantation Partnership, which exports Organically Certified Ginger to New Zealand and Australia has a plan for the management of the Local Waikalou Creek Mangrove Forest and Marine environment and is looking forward to confirmation from the various government departments of the ability to implement the Mangrove Forrest Management Scheme and Marine Environment Protection for the entire Waikalou creek area. Waikalou residents have expressed a desire to have the protection area extended to the water catchment are of the creek and are exploring how to do detailed studies of water flow and quality throughout the catchment area with the respective government authorities responsible for the maintenance of this vital tool against flooding of the local residents and businesses and protection from economic harm for the jobs of local residents.