KOROR (Palau Horizon) – Palau held a sustainable land management workshop to address land degradation problems caused by lack of land use planning, drought, sea level rise and unsustainable development activities.
The workshop was held on Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Ngarachamayong Cultural Center.Madelsar T. Ngiraingas, project coordinator of the Palau Automated Land and Information System, said 104 personnel from various government and private agencies attended the workshop.Its goal was to strengthen the participants’ will and commitment to collaborate and to exchange ideas or recommendations about the implementation of sustainable land use planning and management.Land degradation is considered to be one of the greatest threats to Palau’s socio-cultural, environmental and economic sustainability.Some of its major causes include lack of land use planning, loss of soil fertility, watershed degradation, invasive species and unsustainable development activities.Lack of available technical, financial and human resources have worsened the problem, officials said.The government wants to “further build capacity at the national, state, and community levels to effectively address sustainable land management and land use planning that will assist Palau in the achievement of long-term domestic and global environmental benefits.”
