By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

ThE Global Environment Facility (GEF)pledged an amount of $6 million to Palau’s Micronesian Challenge.
The commitment was made during a meeting in Washington DC. with Pacific Island leaders. The leaders were in Washington D.C. for the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders.
President Remengesau said the GEF made a commitment of a total of $100 million to the Pacific Island nations to help in its program against climate change.
The Micronesian Challenge aims to effectively conserve 30 percent of marine resources and 20 percent of terrestrial resources by 2020.
The president said the GEF pledged $6 million in funds, while $6 million was committed jointly by The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, to provide long-term funding for the Micronesian Challenge.
A total of $18 million need to be secured by local leaders to jumpstart the project.
On the side of Palau, Remengesau said that the money will be raised through the Protected Area Network initiative
The leaders and their partners are working to secure a total of $18 million for sustainable financing for the first phase of the Challenge.
Palau , with the support of the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are initiating this conservation effort to protect marine and terrestrial areas.
The effort covers more than 6.7 million square kilometers (2.6 million square miles) of ocean.
The Challenge will help protect at least 66 threatened species, four percent of the global total reef area and 58 percent of all known coral species. Micronesian waters are also home to the world's largest tuna fishery and more than 1,300 species of reef fish, which are important island food sources.
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