The event is being co-hosted by the Palau International Coral Reef Center, Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Micronesia Challenge Regional Office and The Nature Conservancy.
The jurisdictions representing the Micronesia Challenge — the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Territory of Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau — share a commitment to effectively conserve at least 30 percent near-shore marine resources and 20 percent terrestrial resources across Micronesia by the year 2020.
The meeting dubbed, “Moving Toward Measuring Our Effectiveness: The 2nd Meeting of the MC Measures Working Group and PIRC-JICA Coral Reef Monitoring Project Workshop” aims to produce a regional monitoring framework “that will be tested and ultimately used to measure effective conservation in the MC jurisdictions.”
The event also introduces the PICRC/ JICA Project, “The Capacity Enhancement Project for Coral Reef Monitoring.” It aims to help establish community-based monitoring, focused both on ecological and social aspects, to improve management of coral reefs, their associated ecosystems and resources.
The project gears towards developing protocols that are applicable not only in Palau but also in other Micronesia Challenge jurisdictions.
According to President Johnson Toribiong in his opening address, “My policy is to promote collaboration among these organizations to preserve and protect our environment especially our marine resources.”
He added that in Palau, under the constitution, each is obligated to preserve and protect the environment. “I believe that throughout Micronesia, we share the same traditional practice to preserve our resources.”
The opening day of the event was also graced by Japanese Ambassador Yoshiyuki Sadaoka, who was delighted to deliver his first speech as Ambassador of Japan after he presented his credentials to President Toribiong last week. He discussed Japan’s contribution to the nature conservation in the Pacific.
