Tebunginako

Tebunginako is a village on Abaiang atoll in Kiribati; to its west is Ubanteman, and to its south are Borotiam and Koinawa.[1]

An abandoned building on Tebunginako, used as a combination church and community hall. Saltwater erosion is visible on the building's concrete foundation.

The settlement had been dealing with seawater inundation and coastal instability since the 1970s,[2] and is being abandoned.[3] A report by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission determined that natural erosion was the primary factor, as the village was located close to the site of a blocked ocean/lagoon channel,[4] The Kiribati government[5][6] has blamed sea level rise caused by global warming.[7]

Erosion was so great that the village had to be abandoned. The remains of about 100 thatched homes and a maneabe (community meeting hall) are now up to 30 metres offshore.[8] The villagers relocated themselves further inland, with the new village retaining the same name. The sea reaches what was the fishpond creating a peninsula with the Roman Catholic church standing on one side of the bay and the village on the other side.[1]