Palau House Speaker Noel Idechong, in his presentation, said his island nation remains committed to the Micronesian Challenge but funding and proper management are necessary to keep it going.
“The resources are there but we can’t sustain our operations to save the coral reefs if we don’t have sustainable funding,” Idechong said.
The Micronesia Challenge is a regional initiative in the western Pacific region that seeks to conserve 30 percent of its near shore coastal waters and 20 percent of forest land by 2020.
American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono said due to climate change, corals have only two options — adapt or die.
“The challenge for us now is to protect these resilient corals,” he said.
He said funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is crucial for coral reef restoration programs.
Coral reef health is a public health issue for the people of American Samoa and other insular areas, he added.
More challenges for Guam
With the looming military buildup on Guam posing as the largest threat to the coral reefs, the island’s governor, Felix Camacho, said they have to protect their fragile environment and educate the people about the connection between the land and sea.
Camacho said “safeguarding Micronesia’s coral reefs means safeguarding the future of our children who will rely on the same natural resources for their well-being.”
He said Guam is at a unique point in time “because our approach to this buildup will determine what the next few decades will hold for the people.”
Opportunities that come with the buildup are not cost-free, he added.
“We will see the impacts in traffic, in the loss of forest areas, and in our reefs. Our challenge then is to make sure we minimize these impacts as much as possible and take greater care to conserve what resources we do have,” Camacho said.
U.S. Coral Reef Task Force members who joined yesterday’s panel included Liane Guild of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Department of Justice chief of staff to the assistant attorney general Natalia Sorgente, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairwoman Laura Thielen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for the Environment Donald R. Schregardus, Marion Henry, secretary of the Department of Resources and Development of the Federated States of Micronesia, DoD Army Civil Works Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy, Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, Joanna Walczak of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Coral Reef Conservation Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service Director of the Pacific Islands Area Larry Yamamoto, Department of Commerce-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Director of External Affairs Andrew Winer, Department of the Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary Eileen Sobeck, American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono, Palau House of Delegates Speaker Noah Idechong, Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Water Peter Silva, and Yumiko Crisostomo, director, Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination of the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force was established in 1998 by a presidential executive order to lead U.S. efforts to preserve and protect coral reefs.
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