Monuriki (Cast Away island)

Monuriki is a tiny uninhabited island in the Mamanuca group off the coast of Viti Levu in Fiji. It is about 1.15 kilometres long and 600 metres wide, with volcanic rock, palm trees and small white beaches, all ringed by coral reef.

The island became famous because the 2000 film Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, was filmed here. It is also a real wildlife home: it is one of the few places where the endangered Fiji crested iguana still lives. It sits west of the town of Tavua, and a coral reef surrounds it on every side, so boats cannot simply pull up to a harbour. A few thousand Fiji crested iguanas are all that remain of their kind.

What is the island like?

Monuriki is of volcanic origin and covers roughly 0.4 square kilometres. Its highest point is 178 metres. The land has lagoons, pandanus and coconut trees, a pine forest and several little beaches, and coral reef surrounds it on every side.

The people of nearby Yanuya island are its traditional custodians. Nobody lives on Monuriki itself. Part of the beach is sandy and part is rocky, and the island is the smallest and southernmost of a group of three islets west of Tavua.

Why does it matter for nature?

Monuriki is one of only a few places where the Fiji crested iguana lives. Scientists say only a few thousand of these tree-dwelling lizards remain, on three small islands in western Fiji.

Goats once ate the low plants the iguanas rely on. Since 2011 the National Trust of Fiji and partner groups have been restoring the habitat, and a breeding programme has been run at Kula Eco Park. The iguanas feed on many kinds of plants and insects. They live only in dry forest, which is one reason protecting the island's trees matters so much.

On the globe

Find it on the globe off the west coast of Viti Levu in Fiji and zoom in to open its card.