The certified divers are Victor Masahiro, Sheldon Siksei, Samil Beouch, Einer Kebekol, Loma Roberts, Felisa Andrew, Leslie Ngiramolau, Jameson Techitong, Jason Iramk and Matsuda Kloulechad.
They completed a three-day open water diver course in September last year.Sam’s Tours provided the scuba diving training under the supervision of Jim Wilkie, a scuba diving instructor.Masahiro, Siksei, Beouch and Andrew also received certificates for completing biological monitoring training along with Lazarus Smand, Renguul Masahiro, Aderkero Ngirachewes and Alson Ngiraiwet.The training was sponsored by the Palau Conservation Society and the Locally Managed Marine Area Network.The instructors were Wayne Andrew, Asap Bukurrou and William Andrew.Andrew said their goal is to share information and contribute ideas about conservation matters.“We [ask each state] what can we do to help them, how can we assist them and what do they need to improve the practice of marine conservation,” Andrew said.Palau has 15 to 20 conservation officers but their number is not enough to manage this country’s marine environment, he added.Moreover, “not very much attention is being focused on conservation — people are not so involved in this activity and there’s not enough money to carry out conservation activities to let the people know about them,” Andrew said. The Locally Managed Marine Area Network was established in 2000 to form a group of community members who share experiences and information on determining the conditions under which locally managed marine areas can contribute to conservation.
