It was in 2006 when the heads of government of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the U.S. Territory of Guam and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands signed the Micronesia Challenge, a commitment to effectively conserve 30 percent of near-shore marine resources and 20 percent of terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.
Since then, work has been progressing to support the implementation of these ambitious goals.
Mori urged the working groups, comprised of local and international technical experts, government officials and representatives of partners in the Micronesia Challenge, to press ahead with their urgent work.
The meeting consisted of two working groups.
One focused on effectiveness measures for the actions of the Micronesia Challenge; the other addressed communications support for achieving the goals of the challenge.
Mori noted that although the Micronesia Challenge was largely developed and has been nurtured by government and NGO officials since 2004, it is not a challenge to outsiders.
He said the commitment is a challenge that Micronesians have set for themselves to do the right thing to conserve their natural resources and way of life in the areas where they have legal control and capacity to so.
“Effective implementation of the challenge requires that you go back to developing or reinforcing support at the grassroots of each local community,” said Mori.
He asked representatives from government agencies and conservation groups from the five jurisdictions to ensure that the goals for conservation of marine and terrestrial resources be developed with the communities affected, and that the indicators to measure the achievement of those goals be clear and relevant to those communities.
Mori noted that despite initiatives like the Micronesia Challenge, some citizens and political leaders are not yet heeding the call for conservation.
“I really like to eat turtle but for the sake of conservation and the Micronesia Challenge, I challenge myself not to eat turtle anymore. Additionally, from today, I renounce eating fish that may have been ‘dynamited,’ ” he said.
