We must protect our forests and watersheds
While we would like to develop Babeldaob, we must make sure that we do not destroy are pristine jungles. Anyone who has traveled on the Compact Road on both the Eastern and Western sides of Babeldaob, would have noticed that the roads pass through hills, ridges, and forests that surround all the watersheds on that island. In fact, the entire Compact Road system meanders through the very areas that collect and retain the rainwaters that feed all the major rivers and streams on Babeldaob. These watersheds must be protected at all times for our own use and for our future generations.
The Ministry of Resources and Development, in close cooperation with the state governments on Babeldaob, should begin developing plans and strategies to protect these forest and water resources. At the very minimum, there should be a law against unauthorized cutting and harvesting of timbers that are located on prime watershed areas. Each state should designate areas in their territory that could be developed as housing and farming areas so that uncontrolled deforestation may not occur anywhere on Babeldaob. This approach could lead to actual town planning in the near future that would provide access roads, power, telephone, water and sewer lines, and even postal services to the new settlements.
The thick green forests of Babeldaob are also home to many animal, bird, and plant species, some of which are endemic to Palau. These must be protected because without them, Palau would eventually become a bare, deserted rock in the middle of the ocean that no one would like to live on. The pigeons and the fruit bats that are the main carriers of seeds keep our forests healthy. Deforestation would drive home the final nails on their collective coffin. The trend must be reversed.
Finally, we must prevent the Babeldaob Compact Road from becoming an open garbage dump. Already, we have begun to notice all kinds of trash—empty beer cans and soda bottles, plastic materials, and all manners of discarded household items lying on the sides of the roads from Airai to Ngarchelong. Let’s save Babeldaob from becoming a “waste land”.
