Falealupo
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Greater Region: | Samoa |
| District: | Vaisigano |
| Status: | |
| Residents : | 943 |
| Area : | |
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Falealupo is a location in Samoa on the western end of Savaiʻi Island , approximately 20 mi (32 km) from the date line as it was until December 29, 2011. The place consists of two main settlements, Falealupo-Uta ( ⊙ ), inland on the main road, and Falealupo-Tai , the settlement on the beach. The road to the beach settlement is approx. 9 km long and only slightly paved.
Due to its location at the western end of the country and because Samoa was just east of the date line until 2011, Falealupo was often referred to in the past as "the last village in the world to see the sunset of each day" (The last village in the world that daily sees the sunset.) marketed.
geography
The beach settlement is located at the western end of Samoa, between the Cape Mulinuu and Cape Vaitoloa caps . The landscape is flat and rises slowly towards the interior of the island, to the east. On the coast there are rock pools, grottos ( Cave of Vaatausili , ⊙ ) and further east there are sandy beaches. There are also some fales that are rented out to tourists. Inland Falealupo-Uta has small shops and a bank. In the hinterland is the Central Savaiʻi Rainforest , the largest contiguous rainforest area in Samoa. Research on the tree species Homalanthus nutans has shown that the active ingredient prostratin could be used as an HIV drug .
population
Many families have moved away from the beach to live closer to the main road and thereby have better access to traffic. In addition, cyclones caused great damage in the 1990s. The ruins of the old church can still be seen on the coast.
The settlements belong to the Falealupo Electoral Constituency ( Faipule District ), part of the district of Vaisigano .
Legends
Off the coast in the sea at the extreme tip of the peninsula lies the Fafā , a collection of volcanic rocks . Legend has it that this is one of the gates to the Pulotu underworld , where aitu , the spirits of the deceased, live.
The ruler of Pulotu is Saveasiʻuleo , the father of Nafanua , a goddess of war. Another legend says that Nafanua's mother is Tilafaiga , who brought the art of pe'a ( tattoo ) with her sister Taema from Fiji . The legend of Moso is also linked to the village.
Falealupo Rainforest Conservation
Falealupo has large lowland rainforests. Most of the land is administered locally by the fa'amatai (chiefs) of the families as customary land . In 1990 the Samoan government issued an ultimatum to the remote village of Falealupo that a better school should be built, otherwise the teachers should be withdrawn so that no more schools could take place. Education in Samoa is organized in partnership between the villages and the government. Usually the villages provide land and school buildings, while the government provides teachers and study materials. The economy on the island is still mainly a subsistence economy , so that the citizens only had the opportunity to sell the timber rights to gain money to build the school. But before deforestation could take place, the American ethnobotanist and co-founder of the environmental organization Seacology , Paul Alan Cox , campaigned for the protection of the forests. He promised the village chiefs that he would raise funds for the school in exchange for a covenant to protect 30,000 acres (120 km²) of rainforest.
The Falealupo Rainforest School was built and the village awarded Matais (chiefs, 1989) titles to Paul Cox, Ken Murdock and Rex Maughan. In recognition of his successes, Cox received the 1997 Goldman Environmental Prize together with Chief Fuiono Senio . Cox donated his prize money to Seacology, which uses the funds to maintain the Falealupo Rainforest Canopy Aerial Walkway , which was also built in 1997. The treetop path is owned by the village and is managed by the residents to support the community with income from ecotourism . On the occasion of the opening of the adventure trail, the residents confirmed that the 50-year alliance will be permanently extended.
In 1999 the village community decided that from January 1, 2000, monthly income from tourism would be used for a small pension fund for the senior citizens of the village. In February 2008, the treetop path had to be temporarily closed due to safety deficiencies in the 10 m high entry tower into a banyan tree. Seacology provided the funds and built a new aluminum tower, which opened on June 10, 2010.
Personalities
- Aʻeau Peniamina , Member of Parliament of the Falealupo Constituency
- Cardinal Pio Taofinuʻu (1923-2006), the first Polynesian bishop and cardinal, was born in Falealupo.
- John Schuster , former rugby union player for the All Blacks ( New Zealand national rugby union team ).
- Leo Lafaialiʻi , Manu Samoa player and former Auckland Blues player .
- King Kapisi , a hip hop artist in New Zealand . The chief title of his family in Falealupo is A'eau. In 1999 King Kapisi filmed his music video Reverse Resistance in Falealupo and in Fagamalo , Safotu and Taga blowholes in Savaii. The song was the first hip-hop song to win the APRA Silver Scroll Award in New Zealand.
- Aeau Faʻaloaga , chief, great-grandfather of King Kapisi; the grave is behind the new church in Falealupo-tai.
- Aleni Smith , judoka who competed in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games .
Individual evidence
- ^ A December day disappears in Samoa and Tokelau . In: stuff.co.nz . December 21, 2011.
- ↑ Samoa and Tokelau to Cross Date Line Dec. 29 . In: Time Magazine . December 28, 2011. Archived from the original on December 29, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
- ^ Religious and Cosmic Beliefs of Central Polynesia . Cambridge University Press archive ,, ISBN 1-00-140985-X , p. 156.
- ↑ Savai'i Schools . In: Samoa Ministry of Education, Sports & Culture . Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2010.
- ↑ Heather Zeppel: Indigenous ecotourism: sustainable development and management (= Volume 3 of Ecotourism (Hardcover)). CABI, 2006, ISBN 1-84593-124-6 , p. 58.
- ↑ 14th Parliament 2006 - 2011, Members of Parliament & Ministers . In: Parliament of Samoa . Archived from the original on April 28, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ College of Cardinals Biographical Note . In: Holy See Press Office, Vatican . January 21, 2006. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
Web links
Coordinates: 13 ° 30 ′ S , 172 ° 47 ′ W