Micronesians in Island Conservation

Mariana Trench in Outside Magazine

2010-06-24T06:15:00.001+11:00

According to Outside Magazine, I am an "up-and-comer with a strong marketing instinct." Those eight words will be in every job application and every cover letter I write for the next 20 years. Thank you, Outside Magazine!

On Saturday I received my July 2010 issue of Outside Magazine. This is an issue I have been waiting for for almost a year. This is the issue that contains the story on last year's expedition to the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.

Patrick Symmes, Outside Magazine contributing editor and the writer of this article, did a fantastic job. I thought the story was going to focus mostly on the trip we took to the monument, but he took it to the next level and interviewed Sylvia Earle and officials from the US Fish & Wildlife Service. What could have simply been a story about going to a far off place turned into a great retelling of some of the best conservation that has taken place during the last decade.

The story starts before the creation of the monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and carries us through the creation of Papahanaumokuakea and the creation of Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.

I have to say, it literally hurts when the story of the monument campaign, something that took so much effort and caused so much stress, is cut down to a few paragraphs, or as in the case of MSNBC, a single sentence. One day I'll be able to let go of that; perhaps after my book is published.

The Outside Magazine website says that the magazine will be available on newsstands June 29, but I was able to find it online. I'd love to hear your reactions to the story, so please feel free to leave comments.

FSM’s Joe Konno passes away

2010-06-01T23:36:00.000+11:00

ALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSMIS) — Family members, friends and colleagues mourn the sudden death of Joe Konno who passed away in Guam on the night of May 24.

Konno was transiting in Guam on his way to attend a climate change conference in New Zealand. An autopsy report has been released for information to Konno’s family. However, the results have not yet been released to the public.

Konno is survived by his wife, Cely Konno, and his five children: Joseph Konno Jr., Vanessa, Jacob, Roxanne and Norma.

Konno was an acknowledged expert on environmental issues and worked tirelessly advising stakeholders regarding the impacts of climate change on our country.

After working for 10 years as the executive director and international advisor of the Chuuk Environmental Protection Agency, Konno moved with his family to Pohnpei in 2007, to work as the FSM 2nd national communication coordinator with the Office of Environment and Emergency Management.

“Joe Konno was a pillar of strength in the areas of environment in the FSM, Micronesia and Oceania. He is going to be truly missed here in Pohnpei and the region — with his big grin following an unpardoned and a genuine shot at issues; may his soul rest in peace,” said Amena Yauvoli, from the Pohnpei Office of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

A Mass was held on May 28 at a Catholic Church, coordinated by EEM and Micronesia Seminar. The remains of Konno will be transported to Chuuk where a final funeral service will be held.

Earth Hour in CNMI

2010-03-11T01:15:00.001+11:00

On March 27th at 8:30pm the Division of Environmental quality is encouraging CNMI residents and businesses to turn their lights off for one hour in support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sponsored Earth Hour event that seeks to raise awareness and promote global action on climate change.

In 2007 the city of Sydney, Australia decided to take a stand against global climate change by turning off their lights for one hour. This was the beginning of what has become the largest world wide event calling for action on climate change: Earth Hour.

Since its beginnings in Sydney, Earth Hour has grown exponentially in its scope and world wide participation. In 2009, 4,159 cities, towns, and municipalities from 88 different countries participated in the event. 100s of millions of people turned out their lights in an effort to raise awareness and promote action on climate change. In 2010 we will add the CNMI to that voice.

Being an island nation, the CNMI will be amongst the countries most affected by climate change. Due to our low elevation, rising sea levels put out buildings, homes, and infrastructure at risk. Increasing ocean temperatures threaten the health of the coral reefs that we depend on for food, tourism, and recreation. Higher probabilities of large storms and droughts stand to greatly affect our local agriculture.

Participating in Earth Hour will help to raise local awareness about the risks and causes of climate change as well as add to the global effort to convince leaders world wide that the time for action on climate change is now.

WWF and its local DEQ partners ask for community support to help spread the word about Earth Hour and to turn lights off between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on Saturday March 27th. More information can be found at earthhour.org or at our local CNMI website: earth-hour-northern-mariana-islands.blogspot.com

Interested in volunteering to help with the Earth Hour campaign? Have any great ideas or recommendations that can add to the success of Earth Hour in the CNMI? Contact Aric Bickel at aricbickel.deq.gov.mp or at 664-8513.

2009 Youth Environmental Ambassadors Summer Camp

2009-10-16T11:39:00.004+11:00

“I learned and experienced so much at the camp. . . . YEA club, you’re the the best!!! - Frauleen
Fredrick (sophomore at Nanpei Memorial High School)

During the five day camp, students learned the skills needed to become the next environmental leaders of Pohnpei. Students didn’t let a little rain slow down the learning or the fun during the five day camp.

Plant specimen collection, hiking, GPS training and tree planting are not typical summer camp activities, but the Conservation Society of Pohnpei (CSP) Summer Camp is quite unique. The
camp, on its fourth year, was held from August 3rd through 7th at the Salapwuk Elementary School. It hosted 42 students from Pohnlangas and Nanpei Memorial High Schools for a week of
terrestrial-based learning and hands-on activities.

The students are all members of the Youth Environmental Ambassadors (YEA) Club, which began at PICS High School in 2005 and has since grown to include the Pohnlangas and Nanpei
schools. Each club has student officers, memberships and faculty advisors, and meets regularly to address local environmental issues.

Club members have organized activities such as roadside and campus cleanup and mural painting. Members are dedicated to spread their knowledge of all the environmental challenges facing Pohnpei through peer and community outreach.

Salapwuk served as the perfect campgrounds for a land-based camp due to its lush, intact forest, spectacular 7 waterfalls hike, Sahwartik and Sahwarlap falls, and sacred sites. Students grew to appreciate Salapwuk’s beauty even more throughout the week, as they learned about the importance of conservation, clean water, invasive species, and other critical Pohnpeian terrestrial themes that were presented by CSP, Pohnpei’s Environmental Protection Agency, the Island Food Community of Pohnpei and the Division of Forestry.

The Society wishes to express sincere appreciation and Kalahngan to the Australian Embassy AusAid small grants program for providing the funding that makes this year’s camp possible.

Special thanks also to the Salapwuk community for the warm hospitality and support throughout the summer camp.

Story by: Tess Carly

Pictures by: CSP

CSP -- Staff Updates

2009-10-16T11:30:00.003+11:00

Goodbyes are a thing of life but this summer CSP had to say farewell to a few valuable members of the family.

In the past few months CSP has had to say goodbye to three valuable leaders who helped make CSP one of the leading conservation organizations in the region.

Ben Namakin started with CSP as an environmental educator and eventually went on
to lead our Education Program; Roseo Marquez led the Terrestrial Program for six years as the Program Manager; and Liz Terk served two years in the Deputy Director role. Their 15
years combined experience will be greatly missed.

Mr. Marquez is leaving to become the National Integrated Water Resource Manager for the federal government of FSM. Mr. Namakin is continuing the work he started while at CSP in the
area of climate change and its effect on the Pacific Islands. He has co-founded the NGO Pacific Islands Climate Change Revolution. Ms. Terk looks to build upon her experience as a
dive instructor and working in conservation by pursuing a master’s degree. She is studying Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the prestigious Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. CSP is proud of the work done by these three and feels honored to help build the capacity of these young leaders.

As CSP bids farewell to dedicated team members it welcomes a new member to the CSP family.

Joshua Fuder arrived at CSP at the end of July to replace Ms. Terk in the Deputy Director role. He has a B.S in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and M.S in International Studies,
both from Oklahoma State University.

Prior to coming to CSP he served three years in the Peace Corps in Vanuatu. He has experience in sustainable land use, agro-forestry, renewable
energy, and community based development. He is excited to be a part of the CSP family and looks forward to helping preserve Pohnpei’s natural beauty.

Article written by: Josh Fuder

Pictures by: CSP

Isao Frank Jr. -- New MIC Coordinator

2009-09-23T16:33:00.000+11:00

Melting landfast ice, accelerated erosion: Alaskan villages endangered

2009-09-23T16:22:00.000+11:00

Are you on the Frontlines of Climate Change?A Forum for Indigenous Peoples, Small Islands and Vulnerable Communities
¿Está en primera línea frente al cambio climático?Un Foro para los pueblos indígenas, pequeñas islas y comunidades vulnerables[texto español abajo]
Êtes-vous en première ligne face au changement climatique ?Un forum pour les peuples autochtones, les petites îles et les communautés vulnérables[texte français ci-dessous]

Melting landfast ice, accelerated erosion: Alaskan villages endangered. [Posting 16]Discussion highlights for the topic: Early ImpactsCan't see this article correctly? Go to: http://www.climatefrontlines.org/en-GB/node/520
Coastal villages in Alaska (USA) are reeling from the erosion caused by unprecedented warming trends due to climate change, explains Sharon McClintock. One of the most impacted areas is Shishmaref, a traditional Inupiat village in the Bering Straits with a population of just over 600 people. The village is located on Sarichef Island, a barrier island in the Chukchi Sea. In the past, sea ice would form in the fall, creating a blockade of ice along the shore which acted as a protective barrier against sea storms. This protective sea ice, which used to be in place by October or November, no longer forms solidly. Its absence allows powerful waves to undercut the banks that are already weakened by an increased melting of permafrost. The later freezing of the sea ice is an indication of warmer temperatures in the ocean. Local people say that the Chukchi Sea “doesn't freeze right or fast anymor! e... We go out a couple of miles, and you have this creamy and dark-looking ice, which is very thin and unstable.
During a massive storm in 1973, nine metres of land was lost. In 1974, the village experienced a storm of major proportions and high water partially flooded the airport, prompting declaration of a national disaster. In 1997, a severe storm eroded some 45 metres of the north shore, forcing the relocation of fourteen homes. Five additional homes were relocated in 2002. The teacher housing is in a precarious location near the bluff. The fear that the next storm will leave them homeless convinced long time and well-liked teachers to leave Shishmaref. This has been a huge loss to the community. The sewage lagoon, roads, water supply, laundromat, community store, and fuel tanks are at risk of damage or loss. The main road to the airport and landfill has been eroded in several places and the road is now dangerously close to the sea. Yearly storms continue to erode the shoreline at an average rate of ! retreat of 1 to 1.5 metres per year. Almost $23 million has been spent to construct seawalls that will provide only temporary protection to what is left of Shishmaref.
In July 2002, residents voted to relocate the community. However, numerous problems have slowed this process, including reluctance of the state and federal governments to give monetary support for vital infrastructure or to take the lead in the relocation project. In 2008, the community learned that the site chosen for relocation was not suitable due to permafrost issues. So efforts had to begin anew. The place they now think would be the most suitable is near Ear Mountain close to the village of Wales. It is possible that a sustainable community can be created there utilizing geothermal potential and wind power for energy. However, some people say they will never leave Sarichef Island. But how will they fare, as no services will be available once everyone relocates?
Please keep sending in your observations and experiences of the impacts of climate change on your lands, resources or livelihoods.
Share your views and experiences by writing to peoples@climatefrontlines.org
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El derretimiento del banco de hielo y la erosión ponen en peligro a las comunidades de Alaska [Mensaje 16]Artículo de referencia relativo al tema: Primeros impactos¿No ve el texto correctamente? Vaya a: http://www.climatefrontlines.org/es/node/521
Las comunidades costeras de Alaska (USA) están tambaleando debido a la erosión causada por los niveles de temperatura sin precedentes producto del Cambio Climático, explica Sharon McClintock. Una de las áreas más afectadas es Shismaref, una aldea tradicional Inupiat en el Estrecho de Bering cuya población asciende a tan sólo 600 personas. La aldea se encuentra en la Isla Sarichef, isla barrera en el Mar de Chukchi. En el pasado, el hielo marino se congelaba durante el otoño formando un bloque a lo largo de toda la costa, el cual servía como barrera de protección contra las tormentas marítimas. Este hielo marino de protección, que solía formarse entre octubre y noviembre, ya no se erige de manera sólida. Su ausencia permite que poderosas olas disminuyan aún más las orillas ya reducida! s por el derretimiento del permahielo. El tardío congelamiento del hielo marino es un indicativo del aumento de la temperatura del océano. Las comunidades locales señalan que el Mar de Chukchi "ya no se congela ni bien ni rápido… Recorremos hasta dos millas mar adentro y lo que vemos es ese hielo de apariencia cremosa y oscura, que es muy delgado e inestable".
Durante una enorme tormenta en 1973, se perdieron 9 metros de tierra. En 1974, la aldea experimentó una tormenta de mayores proporciones que ocasionó la inundación parcial del aeropuerto debido al alto nivel del agua, incitando la declaración del estado de emergencia nacional. En 1997, otra severa tormenta erosionó unos 45 metros de la costa norte, forzando el traslado de 14 hogares. Otras 5 familias fueron reubicadas en el 2002. El centro educativo del pueblo se encuentra en un emplazamiento precario cerca del acantilado. El miedo a que la próxima tormenta los despoje de sus hogares ha terminado por convencer de irse del pueblo a profesores muy respetados, que han trabajado en Shishmaref desde hace muchos años. Esto ha sido una gran pérdida para la comunidad. Por otra parte, la estación depuradora de aguas residuales, las carreter! as, el suministro de agua, la lavandería y los tanques de suministro de combustible corren peligro de daño o desaparición. La carretera principal que conduce al aeropuerto así como el vertedero han sido erosionados en diferentes lugares, de manera que ahora la carretera se encuentra en un emplazamiento peligroso, cerca del mar. Año tras año, las tormentas continúan degradando la costa, la cual presenta un retiro anual promedio de 1 a 1.5 metros. Cerca de 23 millones de dólares han sido invertidos en la construcción de un rompeolas que sólo provee protección temporal a lo que queda de Shishmaref.
En julio del 2002, los residentes votaron en favor del traslado total de la comunidad. Sin embargo, numerosos problemas han retrasado el proceso, tales como, la renuencia del estado y de los gobiernos federales por brindar el apoyo financiero para la construcción de infraestructura de vital importancia, o asumir el liderzazo de tal proyecto de reubicación. En el 2008, la comunidad se dio cuenta que el lugar elegido para la reubicación no era apropiado debido a diversos problemas relacionados con el permahielo y los esfuerzos tuvieron que reiniciarse. Un nuevo emplazamiento que los lugareños contemplan como nueva opción, se encuentra cerca de Ear Mountain, próximo a la comunidad de Wales. Se cree que allí sería posible establecer una comunidad de manera sostenible, utilizando el potencial geotérmico y la energía eólica! . Sin embargo, algunos afirman que nunca dejarán la Isla Sarichef. Pero ¿cómo sobrevivirán si no habrán servicios disponibles, una vez que los pobladores hayan sido trasladados?
Por favor sigan enviando sus observaciones y experiencias sobre los impactos del cambio climático en sus tierras, recursos naturales o modos de vida.
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Fonte de la banquise, érosion accélérée : les villages d'Alaska en danger [Message 16]Article de référence relatif au thème : Premiers impactsSi le texte ne s’affiche pas correctement, allez à : http://www.climatefrontlines.org/fr/node/522
Les villages côtiers d'Alaska connaissent un bouleversement considérable sous l'effet de l'érosion causée par un réchauffement sans précédent, lié au changement climatique, explique Sharon McClintock. Une des zones les plus touchées est Shishmaref, un village traditionnel inupiat dans le Détroit de Béring dont la population dépasse à peine 600 habitants. Le village est situé sur l'Ile de Sarichef, une île barrière de la mer des Tchouktches. Autrefois, la mer gelait durant l'automne et formait un blocus de glace le long du rivage, offrant une barrière protectrice contre les tempêtes maritimes. Cette banquise, qui auparavant se formait courant octobre ou novembre, n'est désormais plus aussi solide. Or sans elle, de puissantes vagues peuvent s'abattre sur les berges déjà affaiblies pa! r la fonte du permafrost. La formation tardive de la glace de mer est révélatrice de la hausse des températures de l'océan. La population locale dit de la mer des Tchouktches qu'elle "ne gèle plus comme il faut ou plus assez vite... Si on s'éloigne d'à peine deux miles, on trouve une glace qui ressemble à de la crème avec un aspect foncé et qui s'avère très fine et instable."
En 1973, au cours d'une très forte tempête, neuf mètres de terre disparurent. En 1974, le village connut une tempête majeure au cours de laquelle l'aéroport fut partiellement inondé, ce qui aboutit à la déclaration d'un désastre national. En 1997, une terrible tempête provoqua l'érosion de la rive nord sur une distance de 45 mètres, entraînant le déplacement de 14 foyers. En 2002, cinq foyers supplémentaires furent déplacés. En outre, le logement des enseignants se situe dans une zone précaire près de l'escarpement. Craignant qu'une nouvelle tempête ne les démunisse, des enseignants à la fois expérimentés et très appréciés ont décidé de quitter Shishmaref. Ce fut un pr&eac! ute;judice considérable pour la communauté. De la même manière, les lagunes des eaux usées, les routes, l'approvisionnement en eau, les laveries automatiques, l'épicerie locale et les réservoirs de fuel sont menacés de dégradation voire de disparition. La route principale qui mène à l'aéroport et à la décharge a été érodée en divers endroits et la route est désormais dangereusement proche de la mer.
Les tempêtes annuelles continuent d'entraîner l'érosion du littoral et dégradent en moyenne un mètre à un mètre cinquante de terre par an. Près de 23 millions de dollars ont été dépensés pour construire des digues qui n'offriront qu'une protection temporaire de ce qui reste de Shishmaref.
En juillet 2002, les résidents ont voté la délocalisation de la communauté. Cependant, de nombreux problèmes ont ralenti ce processus, notamment la réticence des gouvernements étatiques et du gouvernement fédéral à soutenir financièrement l'élaboration d'infrastructures vitales ou bien à mener le projet de délocalisation. En 2008, la communauté apprenait que le site retenu pour la délocalisation n'était pas favorable à cause de problèmes relatifs au permafrost. Ainsi il fallut entièrement repenser le projet. L'endroit qui semble désormais le plus approprié se trouve près de Ear Mountain, non loin du village de Wales. Il est possible d'y fonder une communauté durable en ayant recours au potentiel géothermique et à l! a puissance éolienne pour l'énergie. Pourtant certains déclarent qu'ils ne quitteront jamais l'Ile de Sarichef. Mais comment pourront-ils subsister une fois que tout le monde aura quitté l'île et qu'aucun service n'y sera plus disponible.
Continuez de partager vos observations sur le changement climatique et ses conséquences sur vos terres, vos ressources et vos modes de subsistance.
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MIC Has A New Home & A New Coordinator

2009-09-23T16:01:00.002+11:00

After 9 years with the Nature Conservancy the Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) Network, has found a new home. On July 1st, 2009, MIC transitioned to the care of the Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT). MCT is a regional organization which was set up to support biodiversity conservation and related sustainable development for the people of Micronesia. MCT is the only Micronesia-based organization set up to provide long-term, sustained funding to community-based organizations and other non-governmental organizations through a grants program. With MIC’s assistance, MCT will also be able to provide capacity building and organizational effectiveness support and training.

MIC will undergo a slight change while it is with MCT -- the coordination of MIC will also include the coordination of the Pacific Islands Managed Protected Areas Community (PIMPAC) which is co-coordinated by a representative of NOAA and MCT.

Also on August 24th, 2009, Isao Fran, Jr. became the new MIC Coordinator. Isao, was born on the island of Pingelap a small outer island of Pohnpei, but spent much of his youth and adult life on Pohnpei Proper. Isao attended Xavier High School, in Sapuk Chuuk and later continued his studies at Seattle Central Community College and Washington State University, where he majored in Political Science.

In 1993 Isao worked as a paralegal in a Private Law Office for about a year. In 1994 Isao joined the Peace Corps team and has spent the last fifteen years working for Peace Corps Micronesia as the Coordinator/In-Country Resource Manger, then as the Training Director and most recently as the Language and Cross Culture Coordinator.

Model Energy Homes in Palau

2009-09-23T15:56:00.001+11:00

PALAU – A local program is encouraging investment in energy efficient homes to help green Palau and save people money at the same time.

Palau, like many small developing islands in the Pacific, is focused on moving in the direction of a more sustainable energy path and reducing its dependency on fossil fuel.

Being one of the highest per-capita energy users in the Pacific Island Countries with a population of 20, 000 people, Palau is taking firm steps to lower their energy consumption and promote energy efficiency and conservation through their Energy Efficiency Subsidy Program (EESP).

The EESP is a voluntary program aimed at providing home loans that specifically targets the inclusion of energy efficiency measures in new homes to lower household electricity consumption. It is estimated that through this program, electricity usage in new homes will drop by 15%. This new innovative program by the National Development Bank of Palau (NDBP) promises to lift the standard of living in Palau while embracing environmentally sound practices.

Since its inception in October 2008, the program has received a total of thirty two applications with two energy model homes completed in Koror State and construction already commencing for another two: one in Airai State and another in Koror state. In addition six energy efficient standard homes are under construction with twenty-two more applications being processed.

How it works:

Through this Energy Efficiency home loan program, the NDBP helps moderate income families build new homes, with choices of energy saving features suitable for the Palau environment. The bank provides subsidies to the borrower ranging from a minimum of $3,000 to $10, 000 (US Dollars), depending on the type and number of features selected by the new home owner.
It’s more than just using energy saver lights and using energy star appliances. Home owners will have a range of energy saving options to choose from including: tinted or high performance glass, solar water heaters, hot water piping insulation, exterior window shading or awnings and more.

Invest more to save more!

The concept of energy efficiency is usually associated with higher costs. In terms of initial costs the energy-efficient house could cost 2% to 10% more than a house without energy efficient features. However, you’ll pay less in electricity bills each month, usually more than enough to offset any increase in your mortgage payments.

Awareness has been a major tool for the program and the team at NDBP has been working tirelessly to promote this concept which is new to many Palauns.

“We have placed a lot of effort in our awareness campaigns and have been working with our Energy Office, local partners, other leading agencies and the communities to help people understand energy efficiency and the Energy Efficiency home loan program,” says Clarinda Ziegler, the Project Manager for the EESP. The program had also launched an intensive village outreach program earlier in April of this year reaching out to 16 states in the country.

“The concept and the meaning of energy efficiency is becoming a familiar lingo within the communities and the people and we are very pleased with the responses from the communities”

The Energy Efficiency Subsidy Program is supported by the Governments of Italy and Austria through the technical and managerial expertise of The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

“Palau’s Energy Efficiency home loan program is one of its first to be implemented in the Oceania region and offers valuable lessons for all,” says Anare Matakiviti, IUCN’s Energy Programme Coordinator.

For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:

Energy Coordinator, IUCN OfficeTel: (679) 3310 084, Mobile: (679) 9232115, email: anare.matakiviti@iucn.org; Web: http://www.iucn.org/oceania

About IUCN

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

The world's oldest and largest global environmental network, IUCN is a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by over 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. IUCN's headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.

http://www.iucn.org/

1.5 to Stay Alive

2009-09-23T15:50:00.000+11:00

AOSIS LEADERS DECLARE ‘ISLAND SURVIVAL’
THE BENCHMARK FOR A NEW CLIMATE DEAL

Island states demand a global warming limit of ‘1.5°C to stay alive’

For immediate release

21 September 2009, New York – Leaders of the world’s island states have demanded that the new post-2012 international climate agreement guarantee their countries’ livelihood and survival by ensuring that global warming be kept well below 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C).

In a Declaration adopted today in New York at the ‘Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Summit on Climate Change’, leaders and ministers of the 42-member negotiating group expressed ‘grave concern that climate change poses the most serious threat to our survival and viability’, and disappointment at the current slow pace and lack of resolve in international climate talks.

AOSIS Leaders heard that current targets from industrialized countries add up to emissions cuts of only 11 to 18 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, which would put the world on a path to 3°C or more in temperature rise. Current targets are about one third of the 45% cuts by 2020 required to keep global warming and associated losses and damage – already estimated at $125 billion annually – under control.

Recent science indicates that 3°C of warming will result in substantial loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, resulting in one or even two metres of sea-level rise by the end of the century. The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees has already warned that some particularly low-lying island states are ‘very likely to become entirely uninhabitable’.

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas of Grenada, the Caribbean island state which currently holds the AOSIS Chairmanship, called the current targets “unacceptable”, adding that no state or group of states has the right to condemn another to the tragedy of statelessness.

“Our people are already suffering devastating impacts and losses at the current 0.8 degrees Celsius (°C) of warming - coastal erosion, coral bleaching, salty drinking water, flooding, and more intense cyclones and hurricanes” said President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives. “Should we, leaders of the most vulnerable and exposed countries, be asking our people to sign onto significantly greater degrees of misery and livelihood insecurity, essentially becoming climate change guinea pigs? The limit must be 1.5°C to stay alive!”

Today’s ‘AOSIS Declaration on Climate Change’ calls on the international community to ensure that the Copenhagen climate agreement peak global emissions by 2015, with a subsequent fall to 85% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The AOSIS 1.5°C target and associated goal of stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at 350 parts per million is supported by the Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), a total of about 80 countries that represent more than 40% of the U.N. membership. The targets are below the 2°C and 450ppm promoted by many industrialised countries and some developing countries, which are based on now-outdated science. Recent economic studies show the tighter targets are feasible, requiring investments of less than 2% of GDP by 2100. Tighter targets would also send a positive carbon price signal to the markets to drive the development of clean energy technologies needed for the transition to low-carbon economies.

Speaking at a press conference following adoption of the Declaration, Prime Minister Marcus Stephens of Nauru took a swipe at recent suggestions that talks on a new post-2012 climate deal should be allowed to leak into next year. “Seventeen years after signing the Framework Convention on Climate Change, we are still waiting for emissions to peak. We cannot allow domestic politics and self-interest to delay what we already know to be essential. Further delayed action will escalate the cost of adaptation well beyond our economic capacity,” said Prime Minister Stephens.

AOSIS Leaders also stressed that the provision of finance for adaptation by small island states and other vulnerable countries ‘must be an urgent and immediate global priority’, and that the new global deal must include a comprehensive insurance facility to address the now-inevitable loss and damage to fall on vulnerable countries as a result of climate change. “Climate change is already delivering damage not of our making. Our countries need adaptation funding urgently – not in 2020, not in 2030, but now”, said President Nasheed.

“The Secretary-General’s Climate Change Summit tomorrow is a unique opportunity to up the tempo and head towards Copenhagen with a true sense of urgency and purpose,” said Prime Minister Thomas of Grenada. “World leaders must mandate their negotiators to deliver a deal in December, full of the ambition and scale of commitment necessary to address the challenge of our generation”.

Contact
Dr Albert Binger
Permanent Mission of Grenada to the United Nations
Phone: +1 212 599 0301 or +1 301 873 4522
Email: yengar@hotmail.com

Nanette Woonton
Associate Media and Publications Officer
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
T: DL (685) 66305 (685) 21929
F: (685) 20231 W: www.sprep.org
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Beautify CNMI announces slogan and bumper sticker contest

2009-09-21T17:51:00.001+11:00

Beautify CNMI is looking for a new slogan following the successful “What we do on the land can affect our marine environment” campaign started in 2006.

In order to find a new slogan, Beautify CNMI is looking to the community for help.

Artists are being asked to come up with a slogan and to design a bumper sticker that goes along with their slogan. The winner will receive $150 cash and fifty of their winning bumper stickers to give out to friends and family.

The contest is open to all residents of all ages of the Commonwealth. Guidelines for the slogan contest are:

• must be original
• must be relevant to the actions and mission of Beautify CNMI.
• The bumper sticker can be square or horizontally rectangular.
• Artists and participants can submit more than one design and more than one artist can work together on a single submission.
• Designs may be by free-hand sketch, drawing or computer generated, but must be in electronic format to be considered.
• Entries must be submitted by noon on October 24, 2009 and must include the artist's full name, mailing address, telephone number and email address if available.

A brief statement explaining the design and slogan may accompany entries.

All entries will become the property of Beautify CNMI and can be used freely by Beautify CNMI and must be received on or before Thursday, October 24, 2009 at noon. Entries are to be submitted via email to angelovillagomez@gmail.com.

Beautify CNMI reserves the right to modify the winning logo at any time but when possible, Beautify CNMI will work with the original artists to make these changes.

Beautify CNMI reserves the right to correct any information that appears in this contest in error and is not responsible for omissions.

For inquiries contact Angelo Villagomez at 670 285 6462

Big Food vs. Big Insurance, by Michael Pollan

2009-09-18T09:23:00.001+11:00

To listen to President Obama's speech on Wednesday night, or to just about anyone else in the health care debate, you would think that the biggest problem with health care in America is the system itself - perverse incentives, inefficiencies, unnecessary tests and procedures, lack of competition, and greed.

No one disputes that the $2.3 trillion we devote to the health care industry is often spent unwisely, but the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.
That's why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat "preventable chronic diseases." Not all of these diseases are linked to diet - there's smoking, for instance - but many, if not most, of them are.

We're spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called Western diet. One recent study estimated that 30 percent of the increase in health care spending over the past 20 years could be attributed to the soaring rate of obesity, a condition that now accounts for nearly a tenth of all spending on health care.

The American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care. The president has made a few notable allusions to it, and, by planting her vegetable garden on the South Lawn, Michelle Obama has tried to focus our attention on it. Just last month, Mr. Obama talked about putting a farmers' market in front of the White House, and building new distribution networks to connect local farmers to public schools so that student lunches might offer more fresh produce and fewer Tater Tots. He's even floated the idea of taxing soda.

But so far, food system reform has not figured in the national conversation about health care reform. And so the government is poised to go on encouraging America's fast-food diet with its farm policies even as it takes on added responsibilities for covering the medical costs of that diet. To put it more bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.

Why the disconnect? Probably because reforming the food system is politically even more difficult than reforming the health care system. At least in the health care battle, the administration can count some powerful corporate interests on its side - like the large segment of the Fortune 500 that has concluded the current system is unsustainable.
That is hardly the case when it comes to challenging agribusiness. Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There's lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.

The market for prescription drugs and medical devices to manage Type 2 diabetes, which the Centers for Disease Control estimates will afflict one in three Americans born after 2000, is one of the brighter spots in the American economy. As things stand, the health care industry finds it more profitable to treat chronic diseases than to prevent them. There's more money in amputating the limbs of diabetics than in counseling them on diet and exercise.
As for the insurers, you would think preventing chronic diseases would be good business, but, at least under the current rules, it's much better business simply to keep patients at risk for chronic disease out of your pool of customers, whether through lifetime caps on coverage or rules against pre-existing conditions or by figuring out ways to toss patients overboard when they become ill.

But these rules may well be about to change - and, when it comes to reforming the American diet and food system, that step alone could be a game changer. Even under the weaker versions of health care reform now on offer, health insurers would be required to take everyone at the same rates, provide a standard level of coverage and keep people on their rolls regardless of their health. Terms like "pre-existing conditions" and "underwriting" would vanish from the health insurance rulebook - and, when they do, the relationship between the health insurance industry and the food industry will undergo a sea change.

The moment these new rules take effect, health insurance companies will promptly discover they have a powerful interest in reducing rates of obesity and chronic diseases linked to diet. A patient with Type 2 diabetes incurs additional health care costs of more than $6,600 a year; over a lifetime, that can come to more than $400,000. Insurers will quickly figure out that every case of Type 2 diabetes they can prevent adds $400,000 to their bottom line. Suddenly, every can of soda or Happy Meal or chicken nugget on a school lunch menu will look like a threat to future profits.

When health insurers can no longer evade much of the cost of treating the collateral damage of the American diet, the movement to reform the food system - everything from farm policy to food marketing and school lunches - will acquire a powerful and wealthy ally, something it hasn't really ever had before.

AGRIBUSINESS dominates the agriculture committees of Congress, and has swatted away most efforts at reform. But what happens when the health insurance industry realizes that our system of farm subsidies makes junk food cheap, and fresh produce dear, and thus contributes to obesity and Type 2 diabetes? It will promptly get involved in the fight over the farm bill - which is to say, the industry will begin buying seats on those agriculture committees and demanding that the next bill be written with the interests of the public health more firmly in mind.
In the same way much of the health insurance industry threw its weight behind the campaign against smoking, we can expect it to support, and perhaps even help pay for, public education efforts like New York City's bold new ad campaign against drinking soda. At the moment, a federal campaign to discourage the consumption of sweetened soft drinks is a political nonstarter, but few things could do more to slow the rise of Type 2 diabetes among adolescents than to reduce their soda consumption, which represents 15 percent of their caloric intake.
That's why it's easy to imagine the industry throwing its weight behind a soda tax. School lunch reform would become its cause, too, and in time the industry would come to see that the development of regional food systems, which make fresh produce more available and reduce dependence on heavily processed food from far away, could help prevent chronic disease and reduce their costs.

Recently a team of designers from M.I.T. and Columbia was asked by the foundation of the insurer UnitedHealthcare to develop an innovative systems approach to tackling childhood obesity in America. Their conclusion surprised the designers as much as their sponsor: they determined that promoting the concept of a "foodshed" - a diversified, regional food economy - could be the key to improving the American diet.

All of which suggests that passing a health care reform bill, no matter how ambitious, is only the first step in solving our health care crisis. To keep from bankrupting ourselves, we will then have to get to work on improving our health - which means going to work on the American way of eating.

But even if we get a health care bill that does little more than require insurers to cover everyone on the same basis, it could put us on that course.
For it will force the industry, and the government, to take a good hard look at the elephant in the room and galvanize a movement to slim it down.

© 2009 The New York Times
Michael Pollan is the author, most recently, of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. His previous book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. He is also the author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001); A Place of My Own (1997); and Second Nature (1991). A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism. Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley.

Niue Develops Climate Change Policy Through PACC Support

2009-09-14T15:19:00.002+11:00

While it is anticipated that most nations will ultimately suffer the adverse consequences from climate change, Niue remains one of the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. As such, the island faces the most dire and immediate consequences.

Tropical cyclone Heta in 2004 caused major damage to infrastructure and agriculture estimated as NZ$37.7 million, which is close to three times the value of Niue’s GDP. To be able to address these growing concerns, Niue will need a guiding policy to provide a comprehensive framework to bring all stakeholders together to address climate change issues.

According to the Director of Environment Mr. Sauni Tongatule; “one of the major issues that Niue faces is lack of coordination to address the many facets of climate change and the climate change policy will provide that national framework”.

The policy deals with mitigation and adaptation.

“Even though Niue’s global Greenhouse Gas emission is very minimal, we would like to do our part in mitigating climate change.”

The climate change policy work in Niue was supported from technical assistance by the SPREP and SOPAC and funded by the GEF/UNDP funded Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change project (PACC) as part of its mainstreaming activity.

“The success of the climate change policy hinges on putting in place a workable institutional arrangement,” said Mr. Seve Paeniu, the Sustainable Development Adviser of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project (PACC) is being implemented in 13 Pacific Island countries. PACC funding will help start adaptation projects on the ground in three major climate change concerns; food security, water and coastal management.

For more details please contact the Project Manager of the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project Mr. Taito Nakalevu E: taiton@sprep.org T: (685) 21929 F: (685) 20231 W: http://www.sprep.org/climate_change/PACC/index.asp

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CNMI Coastal Cleanup Day

2009-08-26T16:10:00.001+11:00

Beautify CNMI began its fourth year of service this year. Started with the simple idea of making the Commonwealth a better to live and visit, for going on four years now we've cleaned up beaches, roads, and tourist sites, planted trees, painted over graffiti, and promoted recycling and coral reef conservation.

In our first year we planned and executed an island wide cleanup called 1020 on 10/20, with the idea of having at least 1020 volunteers help us spruce up the island on October 20, 2006. Not only did we reach our goal of 1020, but we surpassed it by recruiting over 3000 volunteers.

Earlier this year in April we did it again and were even more successful. The weekend before Earth Day 2009, 27,070 lbs of trash were picked up by 4,140 volunteers from 61 volunteer groups at 54 adopted sites on Saipan.

Next month we hope to do it again with CNMI Coastal Cleanup Day.

Following the same model as the other two large cleanups, we are asking volunteer groups to adopt a beach for a day (and hopefully for a year!). We'll provide the tools and the trash pickup, you just provide the volunteers and a little bit of coordination.

From the Division of Environmental Quality:

Hundreds of volunteers throughout the CNMI are expected to clean their beaches next month as part of the world’s largest volunteer cleanup effort.

The 24th annual International Coastal Cleanup is Saturday, September 19 – from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Everyone is invited to participate. Saipan and Tinian are scheduled to participate on September 19, and Rota’s event is on Friday September 18.

On Saipan, a number of groups have already adopted beaches, including South Lao Lao and Cow Town, according to the Division of Environmental Quality. However, dozens of other beaches still need volunteers.

Several groups are working together to coordinate events on Saipan and Tinian, and the Coastal Resources Management Office is taking the lead on Rota.

The International Coastal Cleanup is the world's largest volunteer effort to help protect the ocean, according to the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated solely to protecting ocean environments and marine life.

Last year, nearly 400,000 volunteers hit their local beaches, lakes, and rivers with a common mission of improving the health of the ocean and waterways. On one day, they removed and tallied 6.8 million pounds of debris, from 6,485 sites in 100 countries and 42 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

DEQ will retrieve and properly dispose of the trash collected from the cleanup on Saipan.

Cleanup supplies – garbage bags and gloves which were purchased with funds from a generous Bridge Capital donation – will be available at DEQ the week before the cleanup.

Interested participants are encouraged to sign up for the event so that organizers may arrange for proper pick up and disposal of garbage.

To request a signup sheet for Saipan or Tinian, contact Lisa Huynh Eller, Olivia Tebuteb or Carlos Ketebengang, DEQ, at 664-8500 or email - lisaeller@deq.gov.mp. For information about Rota’s event, contact William T. Pendergrass, ICC Coordinator, or MJ Taisacan, CRMO Administrative Clerk, at 532-0466 or fax 532-1000.

Contact me for a sign up sheet and I will send you one. We will have a listing of all the cleanups up on the Beautify CNMI website soon.

In the meantime, photos from this year's Island Wide Cleanup can be found on the Beautify CNMI Facebook Fan Page here and here.

CNMI Student Wins Trip to Maug

2009-07-14T12:18:00.001+11:00

The essay contest to find a local person to join our expedition to Maug ended last night. Two essays stood out, one from a young student and the other from a young teacher. In the end we chose the student, but the vote was not unanimous.

Dennis Chan of San Vicente, an 18 year recent high school graduate, will accompany us to the island of Maug next Monday.

Congrats, Dennis.

Friends of the Monument
July 13, 2009

Why I Want to Visit the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument

I am eighteen and have just graduated from high school. I am no fishermen, not an excellent swimmer, cannot dive into meters deep water and wrestle whales. I’m from Saipan and if were chosen would well-represent my age group. I want so badly to get on that boat to Maug to experience the greater Marianas.

People my age, my fellow graduates and many of my friends still in high school easily diss the commonwealth, their Saipan that they reside in. Whether it is the government, school or the smallness they feel holds them. Our memories are still fresh of the summer of 2008 in the rolling blackouts in the sweat. I’m sure we love Saipan, I love Saipan, we swim at beaches, climb down, climb up the stairs of the grotto, and stroll the street market, however there’s a perception that we know all there is to know, we’ve sucked all the sap there is on Saipan. It’s been said that Saipan is a bore. Our eyes look to taller buildings, the malls of the mainland. We sigh, jaded and discontent after signing in, signing off, signing in, signing off, Myspace, Facebook, waiting for that viral video to load—we sigh worn with the immediacy of the Internet. “Saipan sucks.” My home sucks. This commonwealth sucks. Nothing’s happening. I’ve heard these things many times. My perception and theirs are limited to what we know. I feel strongly that there is something beautiful, not as immediate as a video on Youtube, but ever present. More reliable than whatever government is in place, more reliable than your water or electricity, more secure than an accredited college status—Saipan is not the Marianas, the Marianas rolls in blue expanse over miles and miles and settles some in the green and the trees and the beaches. I want to go to Maug and see this happen.

Perception is always jolted with new experience. I spent a week in Tinian without the internet or decent showers, kept awake with damp and smelly tents. We camped at Tachungnya. Our head instructor Ms. Valencourt remarked at the campfire how she gathered from what she heard, that we kids thought Tinian to be a foreign country. Tinian is right next door! Tinian is our sister and brother. Tinian holds so much history—I stood over the uncovered pits of Little Boy and Fat Man and was overwhelmed, viewed pictures of cities obliterated and was grave.

I may not speak for all my age, but our perception of fun forms in that media mold: what TV offers, what they say. But there is grandness here; there was on Tinian. On Tinian where Tachungnya houses fish a few feet from shore—the butterfly fish and its second rear eye swims by, on Tinian where the limestone trail deters to an edge to a view filled with blue, green and beach, on Tinian were destruction sat in pits that should have never been dug. Tinian has no theater, no stop lights, we joke, and yet Tinian was unique. All of us Saipan campers agreed on this.

That was all a tease though. Tinian’s become a tickle, and I think there might be more. I want to see the rest of my Marianas because I tasted Tinian.

Tinian is a ferry ride away and I felt it was another world. I’m naive for it, and maybe naive in thinking partly that a trip to Maug would render me to some enlightening epiphany. I want to go because I know I’d appreciate it. I want to go because I am young and feel the universe expanding, running and that I better catch up, or keep a good pace before it escapes me.
To the north on a boat to Maug maybe I’d get to know my home more—the greater Marianas. Maybe I’d taste some great fish, share in words that bewildered me and maybe other youth will read and decide to see for themselves. I want to go because I believe that the monument reveals and protects a Marianas with a different, better thrill than we, my age, have imagined finding elsewhere. But I want to know firsthand.

Dennis Chan
San Vicente

Win a Trip to the Northern Islands

2009-07-10T12:37:00.001+11:00

A member of the Friends of the Monument has agreed to pay for a local young person to visit the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and several of the Northern Islands later this month. The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, wants a local person to experience visiting the uninhabited islands to the north. The donor hopes that the winner will share their experience with their families, friends, and classmates through photos and a daily journal.

The Friends of the Monument are holding an essay contest to select which young person gets to go on the trip scheduled for July 20 - 30.

The topic for the essay contest is “Why I want to visit the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.” The deadline for submissions is Monday, July 13, at 5pm. Essays must be in Microsoft Word format and e-mailed to marianamonument@gmail.com. There is a 1,000 word limit for the essay. Applicants must be between 18-25 years old.

The winning essay writer will earn a seat on a boat leaving for Maug on July 20, 2009. All transportation and food costs will be paid for by the donor. If for any reason the boat trip is canceled, the winner will have a seat on the next planned expedition.

The winner will be expected to keep a daily journal that will be published on the Friends of the Monument blog found at http://marianamonument.blogspot.com.

Name That Abyss!

2009-06-26T19:48:00.001+11:00

University of Hawaii professor and geologist Patricia Fryer and George Washington High School marine biology teacher and Marine Mania advisor Linda Tatreau are holding a contest to rename HMRG Deep, the second deepest place in the ocean.

According to the article in Pacific Daily News:

The contest is open to all Guam and Northern Mariana Island students ages 18 and under. The proposed name must reflect Guam's history, culture or language and the applicant must include a paragraph explaining the significance of the name.

All entries should include the applicants name, school and contact information. The deadline to submit entries is July 14 to lindian@ite.net.

The winner of the contest will have their chosen name on all bathymetric/geologic maps and will also get to ride on the UnderWater World float in the Liberation Day Parade, with a banner stating the winning name.

Friends of the Monument featured on EPA blog

2009-06-20T03:03:00.002+11:00

The Environmental Protection Agency blog has a blog post about the Friends of the Monument. Woot!

Saipan to host regional environmental conference

2009-06-18T13:57:00.001+11:00

Registration is now open for the 26th Pacific Islands Environment Conference, which will be held on Saipan on June 22 to June 25, 2009, and is expected to draw attendance from government officials and environmental leaders across the Pacific as well as the U.S. mainland.

This year's theme is “Climate of Change: Energizing a Sustainable Future for Pacific Islands.”

The conference is designed to provide a forum for leaders throughout the Pacific Basin to focus on important environmental issues through excellent speakers and interactive roundtable sessions.

On Monday, June 22, there will be pre-conference workshops and a CNMI Energy Summit. The formal PIEC conference agenda runs from June 23 to 25 and will feature both plenary and breakout sessions with a strong focus on clean energy and climate change. Field trips will be held the afternoon of Thursday, June 25.

The Pacific Islands Environment Conference is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the governments of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Register today at www.regonline.com/PIEC2009.

There is no registration fee for the conference, although the field trips and some lunches are subject to a fee. A block of rooms has been set aside at the Saipan World Resort for conference attendees, with rates starting at $100 per night (tax included). Airport transfers are available for a fee. Discounted rental car rates are being negotiated and additional details will be available soon. Those interested in participating in the conference are being urged to use the hotel reservation form on the registration Web site to reserve their room before the May 22 deadline.

For more information about the conference, contact Nuria Muñiz at (415) 972-3811 or muniz.nuria@epa.gov, or Michael Mann at (415) 972-3505 or mann.michael@epa.gov. For information on exhibit opportunities, contact Fran Castro at 670-664-8500 or francastro@deq.gov.mp.

For additional information and registration, visit www.regonline.com/PIEC2009.

Tan Holdings, Friends of the Monument recognized with Beautify CNMI awards

2009-06-13T14:20:00.000+11:00

Beautify CNMI announced today the winners of their annual Environmental Champion and Environmental Steward Awards. The awards are given out to recognize individuals, organizations, and businesses that have proven to be environmental leaders in the Commonwealth.

The Environmental Champion award recognizes a person or group that exemplifies the Beautify CNMI spirit. Those qualities include volunteerism, cooperation, innovation, creativity and the ability to infect others with the Beauty Virus. The Environmental Champion is a role model for others to follow. They bring environmental issues to the forefront of public consciousness. They make things happen and effect change.

This year Beautify CNMI will recognize Tan Holdings, Laurie Peterka, and Ken Kramer as the 2009 Environmental Champions.

Tan Holdings is being recognized as a model of corporate environmental responsibility. Under the leadership of President Jerry Tan, Tan Holdings employees and friends have been part of several environmental projects over the past year. All Tan Holdings offices on Saipan participate in a Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle program and the company participates in a reusable shopping bag campaign with Joeten. Employees, often with the participation of management, regularly participate in cleanups, including the recent island wide cleanup.

Laurie Peterka and Ken Kramer are being recognized for their roles in the creation of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

Kramer was so inspired by the concept of the monument that he quit his job so that he would have more time to collect signatures. Kramer was the largest signature collector for a petition being circulated in support of the monument, collecting over 1000 signatures at the street market, in front of stores, at the Sabalu market, and door to door. Kramer also penned nearly two-dozen letters to the editor educating newspaper readers about the benefits of a monument.

Peterka is being recognized for the role she played as staff with the Pew Environment Group. According to one of her nominations for the award, “Laurie has been the backbone of the Friends of the Monument’'s efforts: always there, always supportive, keeping things moving, doing much of the organizing, writing, scheduling, as well as a lot of the scut work.”

The Environmental Steward award recognizes a person or group that leads the community in activities that help protect our environment in a variety of ways. This individual or group has demonstrated the need to take pride in our islands and to take care of the place we all call home. They serve as an example for others, especially the next generation, to follow.

This year Beautify CNMI will recognize Friends of the Monument as the 2009 Environmental Stewards.

Friends of the Monument was formed to help promote the idea of creating a national marine monument in the waters around the three northernmost islands of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Friends of the Monument engaged in activities to help educate the community --distributing leaflets, conducting meetings, and coordinating with teachers for classroom presentations. The organization gathered more than 6,000 signatures on petitions in support of the designation of a Monument. The Friends sent representatives to Washington, D.C. to meet with White House officials, and participated in television and radio public service announcements and advertising. Ultimately, they were instrumental in the process that resulted in former President George W. Bush designating the Marianas Trench Marine Monument, along with three larger national marine monuments.

The awards were handed out at the Beautify CNMI/PAWS Boonie Dog Show on Saturday, June 13 at the CPA Airport Field.

Beautify CNMI recognizes Steward and Champion Awards winner each year in Spring. Nominations are taken from the community at-large and the Beautify CNMI Committee Chairs select winners. Past winners include Aqua Resort Club, Friends of the Mariana Islands, Marites Castillo, Kathy Yuknavage, Captain Carl Brachear, Adam Sablan, Katie Busenkell, Rose Callier, Mike Tripp, Marianas Dive, Nava Khorram, Max Aguon, Paseo de Marianas Promoters, and Bree Reynolds.

Beautify CNMI! is a coalition of concerned citizens, private groups, and government entities united to enhance the CNMI's natural beauty and foster community pride in its residents and visitors. The coalition was a recipient of a 2007 EPA Environmental Award and received a Certificate of Commendation from the United States Congress in 2009. For more information visit them online at http://www.beautifycnmi.org.

Carnival of the Blue 25

2009-06-08T17:59:00.000+11:00

The best in ocean blogging this month can be found at Carnival of the Blue 25, hosted at Blogfish this month. Carnival of the Blue 25 represents the beginning of a third year of ocean-related blog carnivals. Woot!

Beautify CNMI Selects New Committee Chairs

2009-06-06T19:16:00.001+11:00

During their regular meeting on June 4, 2009, Beautify CNMI partners brainstormed on projects for 2009 and selected chairs to head four committees.

Joe Kaipat of Division of Environmental Quality and Kathy Yuknavage of Mariana Islands Nature Alliance are to co-chair the Solid Waste Committee, the goals of which are to increase the percentage of solid waste recyclables collected, reduce littering, and remove solid waste from local beaches, roads, and villages.

The Solid Waste Committee has plans to develop an adopt-a-spot program in conjunction with a marine debris removal and recycling campaign.

“In the next year we want to take the success we’ve had with keeping Wing Beach clean and spread it to at least seven other beaches,” explained Yuknavage. “We have plans to work with the community putting recycling and trash bins next to some of the most popular beaches on Saipan.”

Angelo Villagomez of the Rotary Club of Saipan, Ronnie Rogers of Historic Preservation Office, and Kathleen Hermann of Division of Environmental Quality will co-chair the Restoration Committee, which will focus on re-vegetation projects and maintaining historical sites.

The committee plans to continue work on the Laulau Revegetation Project started by the CNMI Watershed Group in 2005. They also want to start a volunteer corp who will maintain local historical areas.

Dr. Dan Lamar of FHP Saipan will chair the Parks & Trails Committee, which seeks to create a system of local, state, and national parks under a Commonwealth Parks System.

“A Commonwealth Parks System connected by a series of trails would be a great draw for tourists,” according to Lamar. “It would also attract professionals who look at quality of life issues when deciding where they want to practice their profession.”

Laurie Peterka of Practical Solutions and local student Tyler Yoshimoto were named as the co-chairs of a new Beautify CNMI Committee that will launch a campaign uniting youth, the community, artists, and businesses to combat graffiti.

“This is something that I’ve been working on with the ISK8 Society for quite some time and I’m really excited to make it a part of Beautify CNMI,” said Peterka.

All of the coalition partners agreed that youth education and development through coalition building and partnerships should be an integral part of Beautify CNMI.

“It is so important to work with the kids,” said Hopwood Junior High School teacher Kimberly Vaillancourt.

Beautify CNMI! is a coalition of concerned citizens, private groups, and government entities united to enhance the CNMI's natural beauty and foster community pride in its residents and visitors. The coalition was a recipient of a 2007 EPA Environmental Award and received a Certificate of Commendation from the United States Congress in 2009. For more information visit them online at http://www.beautifycnmi.org.

Job Opening in CNMI

2009-06-04T15:08:00.000+11:00

The CNMI Coral Reef Initiative has a job vacancy for a qualified attorney.

Please CLICK HERE for the full announcement.

Friends of the Monument elect Directors

2009-06-02T20:45:00.001+11:00

A diverse group of individuals -- a lawyer, a teacher, a dive instructor, a former president of the local college, a former director of the Division of Environmental Quality, a small business owner and a community organizer -- have been elected as the first directors of the Friends of the Monument.

The Friends of the Monument previously had three officers, but the group is expanding as the role of their organization expands.

“Last year our main focus was building local support for the monument and showcasing that support to the decision makers in Washington, DC,” explained Director Ignacio Cabrera.

The organization has plans to set up as many as six committees to fulfill the vision they outlined in their October 2008 Vision Statement, but for now will focus on three areas: Outreach & Education, working with the local government, and working with the federal government.

“Our organization plans on being involved with the management of the monument,” said Director Agnes McPhetres. “It is so important that the people of the Marianas, and not just a handful of political appointees, get to have their say in how this monument is managed.”

The new Directors are Cabrera, McPhetres, Bryan Jones, Jane Mack, Laurie Peterka, Mike Tripp, and Angelo Villagomez. The directors will elect officers during their next Board of Directors meeting scheduled for this month.

The Friends of the Monument were the main proponents of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, a 95,000 square mile marine protected area designated by President George W. Bush on January 6, 2009. More information of the Friends of the Monument can be found online at http://marianamonument.blogspot.com.

Looking for a new MIC coordinator

2009-06-01T16:14:00.002+11:00

JOB OPENING

TITLE: MIC/PIMPAC Coordinator

RESPONSIBLE TO: Executive Director

CLOSING DATE: June 26, 2009

Background: Regional Social Networks & Capacity Building Programs -
Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) - MIC began in 2002 as a peer learning network designed to help Micronesian conservation leaders strengthen their agencies by: 1) identifying and addressing shared needs for technical assistance, training, and other support; 2) rapidly sharing successes and lessons learned; and 3) working together on local, national, and regional issues. The purpose of MIC is to leverage conservation work in Micronesia by increasing the success, effectiveness, and number of conservation leaders in the nonprofit and government sectors. MIC's approach is to create a support structure that fosters shared self-directed learning to address priority organizational and technical needs of its members.

Pacific Islands Managed and Protected Area Community (PIMPAC) – PIMPAC is a collaboration of area-based managers, non-governmental organizations, local communities, federal, state, and territorial agencies, and other stakeholders working together to collectively enhance the effective use and management of “managed and protected areas” in the U.S. Pacific Islands and Freely Associated States. PIMPAC aims to provide continuous opportunities for the sharing of information, expertise, practice, and experience to develop and strengthen area-based management capacity throughout the Pacific Islands region. The focus of PIMPAC is to provide support to “on the ground” resource managers, and maintain good coordination/ communication with other networks that focus support to political/organizational leaders (e.g. MC/USCRTF/MIC) or community members (LMMA). As a social network, PIMPAC will continue to use four main approaches to reach its goals and objectives: 1) Training and Technical Support, 2) Learning Exchanges, 3) Partnership Building, and 4) Communications/ Information Sharing. A 2010-12 PIMPAC strategic plan has been developed and implementation will build off previous efforts focused around the topics of MPA management planning, community engagement, and monitoring (social).

Project Scope and Tasks:
Many of the associated tasks under both MIC and PIMPAC are similar and require similar functions as a coordinator. As a half time coordinator for both of these social networks (MIC and PIMPAC), this position will carry out overall coordination of partners, support for project planning and implementation, and communications.

The major function for the coordinator is to communicate and coordinate across a number of partners in the Pacific Islands to support the planning and implementation of MIC and PIMPAC activities. While some of these partners overlap between programs, there are also many differences. Both functions will be under the direct supervision of the Micronesia Conservation Trust. For MIC functions, the coordinator will work closely with MIC members and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Micronesia staff. For PIMPAC the coordinator will work with the PIMPAC Co-Coordinator within NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (based in Hawaii), and the PIMPAC Resource Group, which consists of Sustainable Visions, the Locally Managed Marine Area Network, and The Nature Conservancy, among others. For PIMPAC, the work will focus primarily on the Micronesia region and with strong emphasis on advancing the PIMPAC goals and support for the Micronesia Challenge.

Specific activities that will be carried out for both programs include:
• S/he helps organize MIC/ PIMPAC retreats, meetings, learning exchanges, facilitated self-assessments, training and capacity building events, and provides follow-up for evaluation and reinforcement.
• S/he helps to raise funds for the network(s) and/or specific projects by writing proposals, negotiating with bilateral and multilateral agencies and cultivating donors as needed.
• S/he collaborates with other regional programs/initiatives to provide and extract useful lessons and experiences, and coordinate on joint functional initiatives. This includes the Micronesia Challenge Support Team, and the Locally Marine Managed Area Network. Particularly, s/he will explore opportunities for collaboration among MIC and PIMPAC activities where they can meet shared goals.
• S/he is responsible for maintaining all documents relevant to MIC/PIMPAC carried out through MCT, including budgets, financial administration systems, contracts, workplans, and training materials. For PIMPAC s/he is responsible for communicating with the PIMPAC coordinator at NOAA about budgets and finance.
• S/he is responsible for coordinating PIMPAC/MIC funding and technical support to the Micronesia Challenge Regional office for the development and implementation of the Micronesia Challenge internship program.
• S/he will partner and coordinate with appropriate resource agencies/organizations/individuals to provide capacity building and technical assistance to carry out PIMPAC and/or MIC support activities such as organizational development planning, management planning, and technical assistance in priority focus areas (e.g. community engagement, monitoring, enforcement, etc.). This work may include development of work plans with jurisdictional teams to identify capacity needs and coordination with appropriate consultants to implement capacity building needs on community engagement activities, development of management plans, and community based socio-economic and biological monitoring.

Deliverables:
• Implementation of MIC and PIMPAC retreats and meetings with respective partners
• PIMPAC annual work-plans for Freely Associated States identifying capacity needs and mechanisms and timeline for providing support
• MIC and PIMPAC annual budget development, contract development and implementation for technical assistance activities that support MIC and PIMPAC objectives
• Implementation of MIC/PIMPAC learning exchanges within Micronesia
• Dissemination and development of communications materials for websites, reports, newsletters, list-serves, etc.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s degree in natural resource management (or related field) and 3-5 years’ experience in the functional field, or equivalent.
• Ability to set objectives, manage multiple priorities and independently complete tasks within assigned time frames.
• Experience organizing meeting or events remotely, including arrangements for air travel, accommodations, meeting venues, meals, receptions and other logistics.
• Ability to plan, administer and record results of work-team meetings and activities.
• Ability to coordinate project information from a number of sources to create reports and maintain good program records and files.
• Strong administrative skills, attention to details and numerical ability.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite.
• Excellent communications in English.
• Prepares and monitors program budget.
• Negotiates contracts and services. Purchases equipment and supplies.
• Responsible and accountable for meeting strategic/financial goals and objectives.
• Ability to communicate professionally with a wide variety of people of different cultures to develop, negotiate and/or implement functional programs.
• Ability to work cooperatively often under pressure to complete project work and achieve goals.
• Solicit program support through clear written communications, including proposal writing and other written materials.
• Strong communications and presentation skills
• Work in partnership with other organizations in a collaborative and advisory capacity.
• Willingness to travel 25-40% of time.
• Work requires only minor physical exertion and/or physical strain.
• Priority will be given to a Micronesian national or long-term resident.

Travel
• Domestic and International travel is required to perform certain tasks. All travel costs will be paid by MCT.
• The coordinator will spend significant time on travel for the project (approximately 6-8 regional site visits). The coordinator will follow MCT policies and procedure for travel. Additionally, travel expenses and reports should be shared with NOAA regarding PIMPAC activities.

Place and Period of Performance:
• The position is full time and based in Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia) but requires frequent travel throughout the Micronesia Region and occasionally to other Asia-Pacific countries and the United States.
• The MIC/PIMPAC Coordinator will work from the Micronesia Conservation Trust office. Work hours will vary according to task being performed but will average 40 hours per week. At times the Coordinator will need to work beyond 40 hours per week based on travel or up-coming projects.
• MCT will provide office space, computer, phone, and administrative support. MCT will also supervise the coordinator and may assist them on some tasks.
• The period of performance for this contract is one year from the date of award.

Salary and Benefits: US$30,000 to $35,000/annum, basic health insurance, annual & sick leave

To Apply:
Submit a Letter of Interest
Detailed Resume
2 Letters of Reference

Submit To:
Lisa Ranahan Andon
Deputy Executive Director
P.O. Box 2177 Kolonia
Pohnpei, FM 96941
mctlrandon@mail.fm

Angelo Villagomez on ABC

2009-05-20T11:23:00.001+11:00

In April the Friends of the Monument were on NBC. This month we're on ABC, that's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The interview is about what else in this interview? The Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

Angelo Villagomez was interviewed for the program and it played on the Pacific Beat program on May 19. It may or may not play on the local NPR, but anyone anywhere in the world can listen to the program online.

Click HERE to listen to the interview.

You can listen to the entire 19 minute podcast to hear how it sounded on the radio. It is the last story, starting at about 17 minutes.

A longer, less edited version of Angelo Villagomez' interview can be found HERE. It is 3:34 minutes long and does not include the lead in to the story.

Nominate an Ocean Hero

2009-05-08T15:13:00.000+11:00

I can think of a few people living in Micronesia that would make good candidates for Oceana's Ocean Hero award. From their website:

Oceana is accepting nominees for its first Ocean Heroes Award. This award was created in honor of a recent action by the United Nations recognizing June 8 as World Oceans Day.

Seventeen years and thousands of petition signatures after it was originally proposed, World Oceans Day will now and forever be a day to celebrate our oceans. We hope to pay tribute to the passionate, dedicated fish-huggers disguised as normal civilians and we need your assistance to expose their true identity. Please help us find our inaugural Ocean Hero.

See a full description of Oceana's Ocean Hero Award here.

Click HERE to nominate an ocean hero

Carnival of the Blue 24

2009-05-05T14:33:00.000+11:00

Carnival of the Blue 24 is now live at Sea Notes, the blog of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This month's carnival features the best in ocean blogging from across the globe.

My contribution this month is the NBC Nightly News story on the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument from two weeks ago.

MINA Annual Meeting

2009-05-04T16:14:00.000+11:00

The 2009 MINA general membership meeting will be held on Thursday, May 7, 2009 from 5:00PM to 8:00PM at the 13 Fishermen's Pavilion on Beach Road in Garapan. We would like to invite all of our members as well as the general public to join us, and learn about the opportunities and challenges facing MINA in 2009, as well as our accomplishments in 2008.

Micronesia Challenge Climate Change Workshop

2009-04-27T15:52:00.004+11:00

April 14-17 the Micronesia Challenge Climate Change Workshop was hosted in the Republic of the Marshalls Islands.

Assessing potential oil spills from WWII Wrecks

2009-04-27T15:44:00.002+11:00

Oil, chemicals and unexploded ordinance from an estimated 800 World War II Wrecks throughout the exclusive economic zones of Pacific Island countries and territories pose imminent danger to people, environment and fisheries of the region.

Of this total, more than 50 World War II shipwrecks can be found in Chuuk lagoon alone. Chuuk, formerly Truk, is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia requesting assistance from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to assess the environmental risk posed by these wrecks.

In April, SPREP’s Marine Pollution Adviser AnthonyTalouli visited Chuuk after an Earthwatch Report assessed the leaking wrecks in Chuuk, one of the World’s best dive spots, and found a number of areas of concern.

Talouli worked with members of the Chuuk Environment Protection Agency and other Government agencies to survey the coastal area and determine the extent of the present impact of the wrecks and determine the potential for from future oil spills and the resulting environmental damage.

“Part of the assistance SPREP provided was to assess what would happen to nearby coastal resources if the wrecks were to fail and the oil was to spill out catastrophically at once,” Talouli explained.

In 2001 a State of Emergency was declared in Yap, another of the FSM states, after oil began leaking from the USS Mississinewa, a sunken World War II-era US military oil tanker. SPREP conducted an independent study on the wreck and the estimated impacts of the oil spill found that somewhere between 18,000 gallons to 24,000 gallons of oil had been released into the lagoon over a two-month period, but that some 5,000000 gallons of oil remained in the wreck. The US Navy was tasked with offloading the remaining oil cargo in 2003.

Eight of the wrecks in Chuuk are confirmed to be slowly leaking however the duration of the leaks is not known. Anecdotal evidence indicates the leaks may be slowing down.
Talouli also looked at the economic impact a dangerous oil spill could have upon the Chuukse economy. As a popular international dive destination, Chuuk’s main industry is tourism.
“We had four days of site surveys using the Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) where we visited wrecks, looked at currents and then determined the trajectory of a potential oil spillage. You could see oil slowly leaking and visible on the water. At this stage it is not dangerous however a typhoon could easily change that. Right now, I’d say it is a tier 1-2 oil spill, on a small scale,” Talouli said.

While in Chuuk, Talouli carried out a refresher course with the local oil spill response team using equipment purchased in 2006.

“They did very well and proved to be experienced with handling the equipment. They are capable to cope with a Tier 1 or Tier 2 oil spill.”

Talouli is now preparing an assessment report to present to the Chuuk State Government to assist them in developing a comprehensive strategy to deal with the wrecks.

For more details please contact SPREP’s Marine Pollution Adviser, Anthony Talouli E: anthonyt@sprep.org T: (685) 21929 F: (685) 20231 E: http://www.sprep.org/

You are invited to view Nan W's photo album: Chuuk Wreck Oil Spill Assessment April 09

Chuuk Wreck Oil Spill Assessment April 09
Apr 2, 2009by Nan W
View Album Play slideshow
Message from Nan W:

Images taken by Anthony Talouli while in Chuuk, April, 2009.

Friends of the Monument on NBC

2009-04-24T16:58:00.003+11:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Friends of the Monument were featured as part of a series on the ocean that played on NBC Nightly News during the week of Earth Day.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

NBC also put together a piece called, "Voices from Saipan," that is viewable only on the Internet.

The Final Tally

2009-04-20T16:19:00.001+11:00

We're done tallying up the final numbers for the Island Wide Cleanup. It is funny to think that several weeks worth of work are going to boil down to a sentence like, "27,070 lbs of trash were picked up by 4,140 volunteers from 61 volunteer groups at 54 adopted sites." I guess that's what this kind of stuff comes down to in the end.

So those are our official numbers. Here they are again:

Number of volunteers participating: 4,140
Weight of trash removed: 27,070 lbs (13.5 tons)
Volunteer groups participating: 61
Number of adopted sites: 54

There are too many people to thank for our success, but my Thank You letter is a start.

Thank you

2009-04-19T20:20:00.001+11:00

Over the weekend over 4000 volunteers spent a few hours cleaning up the island of Saipan in what was the largest cleanup in Micronesian history. I wrote the following letter to the editor to thank all those who volunteered

Friday was an amazing day. Thank you. Thousands of people came together for a single cause: a more beautiful Saipan. Young and old, citizen and non-citizen, local and non-local, government workers and business owners volunteered a few hours of their time to pick up the trash littering our beautiful island. Later this week the islands of Tinian and Rota will do the same. Again, Thank you.

Our results were staggering. The final numbers are still being tallied, but our preliminary count shows 4040 volunteers, 55 volunteer groups and 48 adopted sites on Saipan, and 12,960 lbs of trash removed from our streets, beaches, and parks.

The collaboration between groups to make this island wide cleanup a success was enormous. Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Rotary Club of Saipan handled most of the pre-cleanup coordination and sign-ups. Marianas Visitors Authority, Marianas Tourism Education Council, McDonald’s, and the Kramis Family provided funds for supplies and prizes. On the day of the cleanup DEQ, Bureau of Environmental Health, and Division of Parks and Recreation coordinated all of the trash pickup. Additionally there were 55 volunteer group coordinators, who ensured that their adopted site had rubber gloves, trash bags, and most importantly, volunteers.

In every way, from the total number of volunteers, to the number of participating groups, to the amount of litter removed, this year’s cleanup was bigger than anything the Beautify CNMI coalition has ever accomplished.

Furthermore, if the success of this cleanup has anything to teach us, it is that the government does not have the sole responsibility of solving our social problems, nor do they hold a monopoly on having the ability to fix them. We just showed that with a slight change in ethic and a small amount of effort on everyone’s part we can move mountains, in this case a 6.5 ton mountain of cans, bottles, and cigarette butts.

Unfortunately, Saipan’s streets and beaches will be covered in litter by the end of the week. Over the weekend hundreds of people went to the beach and left their trash, cigarette butts and cans are still being thrown out of cars, and homestead residents continue to dump their trash in the jungle.

Instead of being discouraged by this realization, I ask all of you to become reenergized. Change happens. The success of Beautify CNMI over the last three years and this latest cleanup are proof of that. Let us redouble our efforts to turn the Marianas into the cleanest, safest islands in the Pacific.

I encourage the volunteer groups that participated in this cleanup to adopt their spot for the next 12 months. Become the steward of that road, beach, or park for the next year.

I also encourage the eight government agencies charged with enforcing our litter laws to start making examples of some of the worst litter offenders. Hand out a few of those $500 tickets to businesses not properly storing their garbage or to residents dumping their trash illegally.

Finally, I encourage our donors to continue supporting our cleanup efforts. We cannot paint over graffiti if we do not have paint and we cannot pick up litter if we do not have garbage bags.

Volunteers, government policy, and business support are the three legs on which Beautify CNMI stands. The continued involvement of all three will improve the quality of life for the people that live here and make us a more desirable tourism destination.

Again, thank you to all who have supported the concept of Beautify CNMI over the last three years and to everyone who participated in this historic island wide cleanup. I look forward to many more years of collaboration and hard work as we move towards a more perfect Commonwealth.

Angelo Villagomez
Beautify CNMI

Nearly 4000 Ready to Beautify CNMI

2009-04-17T06:42:00.001+11:00

The largest island-wide cleanup in Micronesian history is set to begin in a few short hours. From the Marianas Variety:

4,000 volunteers are set to hit the streets and beaches of Saipan in what is expected to be the largest islandwide cleanup in Micronesian history, a media release stated.

“The support the community is showing us has been tremendous,” explained co-organizer Angelo Villagomez of Pew Environment Group. “We have businesses, government agencies, schools, and even families registered to participate.”

As of Thursday afternoon, 51 volunteer groups had adopted 48 sites around Saipan. According to Beautify CNMI volunteer Ken Kramer, “The cleanup we organized in 2006 had 32 volunteer groups. This one is nearly double the size.”

Deputy Secretary of Labor and Beautify CNMI founder Cinta Kaipat had a reminder for all participants: “Don’t forget to take before, during, and after pictures of your cleanups. We will post these on the Beautify CNMI blog and the two groups with the largest number of volunteers and most trash collected will win $100 each. We’ll use the photos submitted to determine the winners.”

The Division of Environmental Quality, the Rotary Club of Saipan, the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Marianas Tourism Education Council are the co-organizers of the islandwide cleanup. Supplies were donated by MVA and McDonald’s.

For more information on the how to participate in the cleanup, contact Joe Kaipat at 664-8500 or Angelo Villagomez via email at angelovillagomez@gmail.com .

A list of all participants can be found by visiting http://beautifycnmi.blogspot.com.

Carnival of the Blue 23

2009-04-11T08:49:00.003+11:00

Carnival of the Blue 23 is now posted at Deep Sea News. I contribute regularly to this blog carnival, having hosted twice.

A Blog Carnival is a particular kind of blog community. There are many kinds of blogs, and they contain articles on many kinds of topics. Blog Carnivals typically collect together links pointing to blog articles on a particular topic. A Blog Carnival is like a magazine. It has a title, a topic, editors, contributors, and an audience. Editions of the carnival typically come out on a regular basis (e.g. every monday, or on the first of the month). Each edition is a special blog article that consists of links to all the contributions that have been submitted, often with the editors opinions or remarks.

Carnival of the Blue is published on the first Monday of each month. Topics relate to the ocean and conservation, hence the 'blue.' Next month it is hosted on Sea Notes, the blog of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Beautify CNMI looking for award nominations

2009-04-09T14:05:00.001+11:00

The Committee Chairs of Beautify CNMI are seeking nominations for their annual Beautify CNMI Steward and Beautify CNMI Champion awards. The two awards will be given out at the end of April.

The awards are given out to recognize the individuals or groups who have been environmental leaders during the past 12 months.

There are two award categories, the Environmental Steward and the Environmental Champion.

The Environmental Steward award recognizes a person or group that leads the community in activities that help protect our environment in a variety of ways. This individual or group has demonstrated the need to take pride in our islands and to take care of the place we all call home. They serve as an example for others, especially the next generation, to follow.

According to Beautify CNMI volunteer Angelo Villagomez, “The Steward Award winners are the backbone of Beautify CNMI. These are the people that volunteer their time every single weekend to improve our environment and our islands.”

The Environmental Champion award recognizes a person or group that exemplifies the Beautify CNMI spirit. Those qualities include volunteerism, cooperation, innovation, creativity and the ability to infect others with the Beauty Virus. The Environmental Champion is a role model for others to follow. They bring environmental issues to the forefront of public consciousness. They make things happen and effect change.

“The Champion Award winners are the environmental leaders on Saipan,” explained Beautify CNMI founder Cinta M. Kaipat.

The 2007 Environmental Champion winners were PSS teacher Bree Reynolds, MINA board member Kathy Yuknavage, and local activist Captain Carl Brachear. The winners of the 2007 Environmental Steward award were elementary school student Adam Sablan and volunteer group Friends of the Mariana Islands.

The 2008 Environmental Champion winners were Nava Khorram, Marites Castillo of Friends of the Mariana Islands, Katie Busenkell of PAWS, Mike Tripp of Marianas Dive, and Aqua Resort Club. The winners of the 2008 Environmental Steward award were Friends of the Marianas Islands, Marianas Dive, Paseo de Marianas Promoters and Max Aguon and the Pantalon Boys.

To nominate an individual or group, submit a written nomination explaining why that person or group deserves recognition. You can make as many nominations as you like, but individuals and groups can only be nominated for one award category. Nominations must include the award category the nominee is being considered for, a well written argument detailing the reasons why this nominee should be considered, and contact information for the nominee and for the person making the nomination.

Send nominations to Angelo Villagomez at angelovillagomez@gmail.com or mail them to PMB 360 BOX 10001; Saipan, MP 96950 or call 285-6462 for more information.

Island Wide Cleanup planning under way in CNMI

2009-04-08T09:49:00.000+11:00

The island wide cleanup that is being planned for next Friday was independently planned by three separate organizations. I wrote about organizing an island wide cleanup on The Saipan Blog for the Rotary Club back in January. In February I got an email from DEQ saying that they were planning an island wide cleanup as part of the Commonwealth Earth Day celebration. Then last month, Marianas Tourism Education Council (MTEC) contacted me to let me know that they were also planning an island wide cleanup in April. All three groups had been planning their separate cleanups for some time, it just took us a while to find each other.

When we found that we had similar goals, we immediately decided to work together (this is back in February) and started roping in other partners. Marianas Visitors Authority agreed to donate $1500 for supplies and Tan Holding, the largest employer on the island besides the government, pledged to have all their companies participate (three hotels, several restaurants, an insurance company, a newspaper, among others).

In the classic Beautify CNMI spirit, each group donates that which they are best at donating. I'm a great organizer. DEQ has government contacts and staff and trucks for hauling garbage. MVA has media people. Tan Holdings and the schools have volunteers. MTEC, MVA, and the Kramises in Washington have money. All our donations of time, talent, money, and manpower come together to make for a great event.

A big part of MTEC's involvement is giving support and financial assistance to the local schools. They donated $1000 towards the cleanup effort. They originally offered to split the $1000 equally between the schools and Beautify CNMI, but I asked them to change it to $900 for the students and only $100 for us. The way I figure it, I'm really good at scrounging up supplies and volunteers and if there is money available for students, better to support the students.

They issued a press release about their donation today.

MTEC Offers Top Schools Cleanup Incentives

Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) – Personal responsibility in having a clean tourism destination is being highlighted by Marianas Tourism Education Council (MTEC), as the group announces cash incentives for Northern Marianas schools that join the Earth Month Island-wide Cleanup on April l7, 2009.

In addition to $100 donated to event organizer Beautify CNMI!, MTEC is setting aside $900 for the Public School System to be divided among the top schools with the highest percentage of student turnout for the cleanup.

“Keeping our islands beautiful is an important part of supporting tourism, and we encourage all schools, especially those with MY WAVE (Welcome All Visitors Enthusiastically) clubs to have their students join the April 17 event,” said MTEC Chairman Ed Cho. “MTEC is pleased to support this year’s cleanup and help encourage a clean environment for visitors and residents, alike.”

Beautify CNMI partners Division of Environmental Quality, Rotary Club, and Marianas Visitors Authority are inviting all residents to plant a tree, paint over some graffiti or cleanup a road or a beach during the event. Cleanup over the weekend is also encouraged for people not available on April 17. Assistance with gloves, trash bags, and trash transfer are also available from Beautify CNMI!

Sign-up forms will be the basis of awarding the MTEC incentive. Forms are available from Rotary Club member and event co-organizer Angelo Villagomez at angelovillagomez@gmail.com.

A complete list of participants for the cleanup can be found at http://beautifycnmi.blogspot.com. As of today (April 7), six spots have been adopted by eight organizations, accounting for 136 volunteers.

The coordination of the cleanup is going very well. As of 8:31 AM on Wednesday, April 8, we have 11 sites adopted by 13 different groups representing 591 volunteers. We are about 1/10 of the way there with 9 days to go to continue building excitement. I'm optimistic that we'll reach our goal of 5000 volunteers!

MC Communications Coordinator Job Announcement

2009-04-07T13:49:00.000+11:00

Micronesia Challenge

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: MICRONESIA CHALLENGE COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
CLOSING DATE: April 30, 2009
TO APPLY: Send cover letter and resume to Charlene Mersai at micronesiachallenge@gmail.com

BACKGROUND:

The Micronesia Challenge (MC) is a globally unique effort, and is unprecedented in its collaborative regional approach to achieving conservation goals. As such, the MC has the potential to attract both international and national funding as well as fostering pride in island residents as leaders in this unique conservation effort. To fully maximize this potential however, a coordinated, strategic, and sustained marketing strategy, which highlights local success stories at a regional and national level, must be implemented.

Social marketing and communication strategies are now recognized as critical components to successful conservation efforts. Ultimately, conservation is about people. We do not manage resources; we manage how people interact with these resources. The question is no longer whether to involve local communities in conservation, but how.

While most jurisdictions have some level of a public participation plan, and an outreach professional working on engaging local communities in conservation, most have also noted “community support and participation” as a challenge to their efforts. These local professionals will become essential in spreading the messages and goals of the Micronesia Challenge to local stakeholders, and fostering public participation in management actions towards achieving the MC goals. However, they need support to further develop strong social marketing messages, and gain skills to effectively foster environmental stewardship. It is essential to provide long term support to local coordinators as they carry out public awareness strategies in their local jurisdictions.

Finally, there is currently no mechanism for developing a regional marketing approach that emphasizes the unique nature of the Challenge and garners further financial and technical support both nationally and internationally. It is unrealistic to assume that locally-based coordinators can carry out regional MC communications. Their limited time and technical resources must be prioritized for local initiatives. A truly integrated and successful approach requires an individual with highly developed technical marketing skills that can carry out public opinion research, craft effective messages, and implement a sustained and targeted campaign.

AIM:

Raising public awareness of environmental concerns and how to address these concerns is a central component of any strategy to conserve biodiversity and promote the sustainable use of natural resources. The Micronesia Challenge is a unique and unprecedented conservation endeavour. At the regional level, it requires a:

specialized, effective, regional marketing campaign that conveys a regional message, showcases the participating jurisdictions’ successes, and ultimately attracts foreign and/or national investment;
a reliable communications plan that coordinates regional events and oversees the flow of information between jurisdictions and the greater international community; and
a system that provides technical support to the existing outreach and education strategies of the local jurisdictions.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

The Micronesia Challenge Communications Specialist (MCCS) position will assist the five Micronesia Challenge (MC) jurisdictions (The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Republic of Palau, and The Republic of the Marshall Islands) through development of marketing materials and technical assistance. Specifically, the role of the MCCS will include but not be limited to:
· Work with MC Coordinator, MC Communications Team and MC Support team to further develop and implement a regional MC Communications Plan, ensuring the MC is positioned appropriately at important national, regional and international events as they arise.
· Assist MC Coordinator to liaise with donors, the media and the general public to elevate global recognition and support for the Challenge
· Craft regional messages highlighting local success stories
· Work with MC Champions (and Champions Coordinator) to support implementation of communications plan
· Provide support and training for local coordinators as appropriate
· Serve as Web administrator of a regional Web site that will link to existing local web-based information and house communication tools.
· Bring expertise and training to local jurisdictions to support jurisdictional efforts
· Coordinate regional events (e.g. MC Festival/Meeting, training)
· Compile regional reports highlighting local efforts
· Disseminate branding tools and ensure consistency of brand in all MC Communications materials

QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge/Skills:
· Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Social marketing or related field and at least 3 years related experience or equivalent combination.
· Excellent written and oral communication skills.
· Good interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively pitch news/feature stories and work with media on deadline.
· Sound judgment, professionalism and, especially, discretion while serving as the media spokesperson for the Micronesia Challenge.
· Demonstrated experience in MS Office, Word, and Excel. May require database management skills with ability to produce reports. Ability to use advanced computer functions including navigating the Internet. Ability to manipulate, analyse and interpret data.
· Ability to organize time and manage diverse activities. Meet deadlines.
· Must be able to present ideas and concepts clearly and in a culturally considerate context and to work effectively within the region other MC partners.
· Preference given to candidates from or with experience in Micronesia or other Pacific Islands.

Communications/Interpersonal Contacts:
· Communication and presentation skills; ability to persuasively convey the mission of MC to diverse groups including donors, the public and others.
· Ability to communicate and coordinate with multiple stakeholders (e.g. local outreach focal points, MC Coordinator, donors, the public, donors, and others) over long distances.
· Ability to work closely with a team of people to develop and implement project plans
· Solicit MC support through clear written communications, including proposal writing and other written materials.

Problem Solving/Decision-Making Responsibility:
· Coordinate multiple projects with several variables, set realistic deadlines, and manage a timeline.
· Interpret guidelines and analyse factual information to adapt or modify processes in response to changing circumstances.
· Duties may require non-routine analysis, research and follow-through.
· Work independently without requiring detailed management review of general work.
· Financial responsibility may include working within a budget to complete projects, negotiating and contracting with vendors, assisting with budget development, and meeting fundraising targets.

Working Conditions/Physical Effort:
· Ability to adapt to dynamic working schedules and environments, including regional travel
· Ability to work under stress during peak workload periods.

PLACE AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

The MCCS will be supervised by the MC Regional Coordinator, Charlene Mersai, based in Palau.
Work hours will vary according to task being performed but will average 40 hours per week.
Regional travel may be required to perform certain tasks.
MC Regional Office and host partner organization will provide office space, computer, phone, and administrative support.
The period of performance for this contract is 1 year from the date of award.

Location TBD- finding the right candidate with the right skills is the highest priority

SALARY:
$30,000 to $40,000 per annum

Sign up for the Island Wide Cleanup

2009-04-03T18:29:00.001+11:00

I am working with the Division of Environmental Quality, Marianas Visitors Authority, Rotary Club of Saipan, and Marianas Tourism Education Council to coordinate an island wide cleanup for April 17, 2009.

The concept for the cleanup is simple: If several thousand people spend just a couple of hours doing something to improve the islands on the day of the cleanup, the following morning the islands will look pretty nice.

This will make our islands look pretty snazzy in time for Earth Day and for Tourism Month in May.

The coordinators are asking people, businesses, government agencies, schools, and homes to spend an hour or two doing a cleanup at anytime on Friday, April 17, 2009. If you want to adopt a beach that is great, but we are encouraging people to adopt the area near their place of business. Governor Fitial has agreed to allow ALL government agencies to participate during working hours. More information on that should be forthcoming from DEQ and the Governor's Office.

I hope you can participate. I've created a simple signup sheet that will help us track our activities. If you would like me to send you one, please email me at angelovillagomez at gmail dot com. After you fill it out, please either fax or email it back in.

Island Wide Cleanup sign ups begin

The first 50 people have signed up for the Island Wide Cleanup slated to take place on April 17, 2009. The Saipan Mayor’s Office and the Office of Personnel Management were the first organizations to turn in their sign up sheets.

The Office of Personnel Management has adopted the Garapan Fishing Base and has pledged to recruit 20 volunteers to help beautify the area. Likewise, the Saipan Mayor’s Office has adopted Beach Road from Afetnas to Koblerville and has pledged 30 staff for roadside trash collection.

“Our first two signups adopted the roads and areas near their offices. This is what we envisioned when we started planning this cleanup,” said co-organizer Joe Kaipat of Division of Environmental Quality. “We hope to get at least 5000 volunteers this year,” he added.

According to the organizers, the goal of this year’s island wide cleanup is to recruit at least 5000 volunteers to spend a few hours beautifying the islands, whether it is by picking up litter on a road or beach, painting over graffiti, planting a few trees, or participating in some other activity.

The cleanup organizers are encouraging participants to adopt a spot near their homes, offices, or schools, although some organizations will adopt beaches and/or tourist sites.

The organizers are encouraging the community to get involved as much as possible.

Event co-organizer Angelo Villagomez said, “It would be great if we could get a few families to adopt the roads near their homes. We want people to take ownership and responsibility for the upkeep of their areas of the island.”

The Marianas Visitors Authority is providing funds for garbage bags, rubber gloves, and some paint and the Division of Environmental Quality has pledged to assist with transferring solid waste collected to the transfer station in Lower Base. Supplies, if needed, will be available for pickup at the Division of Environmental Quality.

Division of Environmental Quality, Rotary Club of Saipan, Marianas Visitors Authority, and Marianas Tourism Education Council are the co-organizers of the island wide cleanup.

For more information on the how to participate in the cleanup, contact Joe Kaipat at 664-8500 or Angelo Villagomez at 285-6462 or via Email at angelovillagomez@gmail.com.

Former First Lady Thanks Friends of the Monument

2009-03-26T09:55:00.001+11:00

Monumental moment: Friends of the Monument's Agnes McPhetres presented then-First Lady Laura Bush with Mariana Trench t-shirts on the day the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument was created by then-President George W. Bush.

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands – Former First Lady Laura Bush recently wrote to the Friends of the Monument thanking them for their role in supporting the creation of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

The letter, embossed with the official White House seal reads, “We are pleased that you joined us at the White House for the signing of the proclamation to create the Pacific Marine National Monuments. Your gifts will always remind us of your support throughout the process that led this special occasion.”

Friends of the Monument’s Agnes M. McPhetres presented then-first lady Bush with two orange Mariana Trench Monument t-shirts after the monument declaration signing in Washington, DC on January 6, 2009.

The former first lady added, “Conservation and protection of our ocean resources is vitally important to our nation and the world. I am proud of the accomplishments of my husband’s Administration to protect America’s oceans. He joins me in sending best wishes to your organization for future success in advancing marine conservation.”

The letter from the former first lady included an autographed photo of her and former President George W. Bush.
Friends of the Monument’s Angelo O. Villagomez said of the letter, “I am really proud of our people. We are showing the world how local actions can have global consequences. Even the former President of the United States and his first lady know about our work here.”

The Friends of the Monument were the main proponents for a marine monument in the Marianas. When local elected leaders were not receptive to the idea of a marine monument, the Friends started a petition drive and collected over 6000 signatures from local residents. They also gained endorsements from the business community and prominent community leaders.

The islands’ political establishment ultimately supported the monument. According to a statement issued by Governor Benigno R Fitial on the day of the designation, “I welcome President Bush's historic announcement establishing the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument…Over the past few months, I have been actively engaged in discussions with the White House Council on Environmental Quality regarding the objectives and scope of the proposed monument. I have been joined in these discussions by President Pete Reyes of the Commonwealth Senate and Speaker Arnold Palacios of the Commonwealth House of Representatives.”

When asked about what he was going to do with the letter, Friends of the Monument’s Ignacio V. Cabrera said, “I’m going to hang it on my wall at home so that I can remember all we have accomplished.”

Silly grin: Friends of the Monument's Angelo Villagomez and the letter from Laura Bush.

Friends of the Monument officers Agnes M. McPhetres, Ignacio V. Cabrera, and Angelo O. Villagomez were on hand to witness the historic monument declaration this past January.

The Friends of the Monument formed in the Spring of 2008 to express the voice of the local community and consists of a cross-section of indigenous and resident people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands who are dedicated to the conservation, preservation and protection of marine flora, fauna and geological features of the oceans; and the creation and proper management of a Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

More information on the Friends of the Monument and the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument can be found at http://marianamonument.blogspot.com.

SPREP Supports Earth Hour

2009-03-24T09:53:00.004+11:00

Vote Earth, by turning off your lights for one hour on Saturday March 28 beginning at 8.30 pm local time, wherever you live in the Pacific.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) supports Earth Hour, an initiative of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and is pleased by the commitment from those in the Pacific who are gearing up towards ‘flicking the switch’.
Over 1,750 cities, towns and municipalities in over 80 countries have committed to “Voting Earth” during Earth Hour this year. Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea have already embraced Earth Hour as an expression of global solidarity in voting for immediate action to reduce carbon emissions - the major cause of climate change. SPREP encourages all other Pacific islands to also take a stand.

“We in the Pacific face immense climate change impacts if greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly reduced,” says Kosi Latu, Acting Director of SPREP. “We will also have problems in adapting to climate change and require resources and support. We know the emissions from the Pacific islands region are miniscule in global terms, but the region is nevertheless taking momentous steps towards reducing those emissions.”

A Pacific-wide renewable energy project will reduce fossil fuel emissions from Pacific islands by 33 per cent by 2015, but there are also other initiatives underway at the national levels in the Pacific islands.

Latu added that there is an urgent imperative to reduce global carbon emissions and that SPREP will continue to support the Pacific Islands in their efforts to secure a more ambitious reduction target through international negotiations. A series of international meetings are being held this year in the lead up to the 15th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December this year.

“We call on all those in our member countries, who are in a position to do so, to join in this initiative and make a stand for the future of the planet. We hope the World will listen to our call and take our requests for a larger global carbon emission reduction target seriously,” said Latu.
For more information on how to join the Earth Hour visit http://www.earthhour.org/

SPREP

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme

PO Box 240,

Apia, Samoa

E: sprep@sprep.org

T: +685 21929F: +685 20231W:

http://www.sprep.org/

Friends of the Monument to be Recognized by EPA

2009-03-20T14:41:00.001+11:00

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands – The Friends of the Monument were informed this week that they are to be recipients of a 2009 EPA Environmental Award on April 16. The award seeks to recognize individuals and groups outside of the EPA who are making significant contributions to improve the environment. Jane Mack of the Friends of the Monument was the first person notified about the award.

"I was really excited to receive the dawn telephone call from Wendy Chavez at EPA, telling us that Friends of the Monument would be recognized as an award winner," Mack said when asked about the award. "I nominated the community organization for special recognition because the Friends worked hard and its members put their hearts and souls into the campaign for a monument. The Friends efforts directly contributed to the eventual designation of the Monument by President Bush."

The award is open to people and groups who are working all across California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and tribal lands to protect public health and the environment. This year over 200 nominations were made, but only 40 winners will be recognized.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the EPA for our work. This is an award the Friends will share with all our supporters, especially the Pew Environment Group,” said Friends Chairman Ignacio V. Cabrera about the award.

On January 6, 2009, then-President George W. Bush declared 190,000 square miles of ocean as marine monuments, closing parts of them to mining and commercial fishing, including the 95,000 square mile Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

The Friends of the Monument were the main local proponents of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. They worked to build and showcase local support to convince then-President Bush to declare a monument around the three northernmost islands in the Marianas archipelago.

“In less than a year, the Friends of the Monument grew from an idea into the most powerful grassroots movement in the Mariana Islands,” said Jay Nelson, Director of Global Ocean Legacy with the Pew Environment Group. “It was amazing to see a such an outpouring of genuine support for the marine environment.”

The Friends of the Monument waged an old-fashioned door-to-door grassroots campaign to build support for the monument.

Wesley Bogdan, a local attorney and one of the Friends of the Monument said of the monument declaration, "The creation of the monument shows that the system can work, that the people actually do have the ability to affect their government to some degree. The Friends of the Monument's hard work and receipt of this award from EPA can help spread that message and hopefully encourage more people to get involved and work on projects important to their community."

Initially local leaders were not receptive to the idea of a marine monument, so the Friends started a petition drive and with the help of 60 volunteer petitions gatherers, collected over 6000 signatures from local residents.

They also made presentations to local junior high school, high school, and college students, which resulted in over 500 handwritten support letters being sent to President Bush.

During a White House sponsored workshop, the Friends recruited over 400 supporters to attend. Most were wearing orange, as the workshop took place during the Friend’s sponsored WOW Week – Wear Orange Week.

They worked with the local business community and signed 206 businesses on to support the monument, including the Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands, Tan Holdings, DFS, and McDonalds.

They also organized a letter writing campaign in support of the monument. Over 100 current and former community leaders sent letters to then-President Bush in support of the monument. Constitution writers Dr. Joaquin A. Tenorio and Karl T. Reyes and business leaders David M. Sablan and Manny S. Villagomez were among the prominent letter writers.

Officers of the group also traveled to Washington, DC on two occasions to meet with federal officials and national media outlets.

Mike Tripp, a local dive operator commented about the grassroots campaign, "If it were not for the Friends of the Monument, the monument designation would never have happened. The organization stands as proof that individuals coming together for a common cause can truly effect positive change in their own backyard, and also for the benefit of the planet".

The Friends of the Monument formed in the Spring of 2008 to express the voice of the local community and consists of a cross-section of indigenous and resident people of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands who are dedicated to the conservation, preservation and protection of marine flora, fauna and geological features of the oceans; and the creation and proper management of a Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.

More information on the Friends of the Monument and the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument can be found at http://marianamonument.blogspot.com.

Angelo Villagomez thanks supporters

2009-03-19T15:48:00.000+11:00

Thank you

One year ago I introduced the concept of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument to the people of the Marianas with the following words:

“It is the responsibility of every indigenous person to ensure that these islands are passed down to the next generation in the same condition in which they were passed down to us. I take that promise seriously. This is how I practice my culture.” (Practicing My Culture, Saipan Tribune, March 20, 2008)

The monument as proposed to the public had several months worth of input from government and environmental leaders in the Marianas. Prior to the announcement I had set up a meeting between Secretary of Department of Lands and Natural Resources Ignacio Dela Cruz, Senior Policy Advisor Ramon Mafnas, then-Representative Cinta M. Kaipat, and Jay Nelson of Pew Environment Group (August 2007). I also arranged a presentation by Pew Environment Group to the Mariana Island Nature Alliance at one of their public meetings (November 2007) and personally briefed the three heads of the local government’s natural resource agencies, Sylvan Igisomar of Division of Fish & Wildlife, Frank Rabauliman of Division of Environmental Quality, and John Joyner of Coastal Resource Management (December 2007). The monument was also discussed in several Beautify CNMI meetings, which are open to the public and announced ahead of time. Additionally, a letter outlining the concept of a monument was also sent to Governor Fitial in December 2007.

Additionally, one week before the public announcement I helped set up meetings with other government officials, including a presentation to a joint session of the Legislature and a meeting of the Governor’s Military Task Force, Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Commission, and Strategic Economic Development Council in which over 40 government, business, and community leaders attended (March 2008).

Input was taken at every meeting and led to the following proposal, which was eloquently captured in a letter to the editor by Cinta Kaipat on May 1, 2008. The proposal was to “create federally funded local jobs, give a needed boost to our struggling tourism industry, bring positive worldwide attention to our shores, and most importantly, protect three of our islands and their surrounding waters for generations to come.” (Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, Saipan Tribune, May 1)

The announcement was made in a letter to the editor and was followed by a series of 115 public meetings in conference rooms, meeting halls, pala palas, bars, classrooms, restaurants, people’s homes, and offices on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

During this process 6000 local residents exercised their First Amendment rights and petitioned President Bush to create the monument. 500 students wrote hand written letters containing their concerns and hopes for the monument. Over 400 people participated in a public meeting hosted by the White House to gather comments, the first of its kind in the Commonwealth. 206 Business owners and managers signed a petition in support of the monument and about 100 local people wrote letters and emails to the President.

Many of our local private institutions supported the designation of the monument, including the Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, Tan Holdings, Mariana Islands Nature Alliance, Beautify CNMI and Marianas Dive. The Saipan Tribune also endorsed the monument in an editorial.

Finally, Governor Fitial, Senate President Reyes, and House Speaker Palacios in an eleventh hour turn around came to support the monument. The monument would not have been designated had they not come on board. This was repeated at every meeting and despite claims by Wespac officials to the contrary, ultimately proved true.

Early on there was some confusion as to the role of a private institution and government. The process to create a monument was always something that would occur between governments. Although the Pew Environment Group and Friends of the Monument would have loved to have been at the so-called negotiating table, this process was always going to take place between the duly elected leaders of the Commonwealth and the United States and their appointed representatives. The role of the private institution was to provide information and public education, with a little political pressure for good measure.

It has been nearly three months since the Marianas became home to one of the world’s largest marine protected areas, the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, yet the process to draft a management plan has just begun.

By April 6 the Secretary of Commerce will select a five person Marine Monument Advisory Council. Three of the council members will be government officials of the Northern Mariana Islands. They will be chosen in consultation with Governor Fitial.

Following the selection of the Advisory Council, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service will begin a scoping period where the public will have more opportunity for input.

With that said, everyone who was involved in getting us to where we are right now deserves a hearty pat on the back and a well-deserved thank you. I cannot think of any other issue that has engaged and inspired so many people and brought so many people together in recent memory. People who can usually not agree on anything came together to support this project. I admit that there were some people out on the fringes, but the vast majority of our people were behind the monument on the day it was designated.

Our community should be proud of what we have accomplished. Thank you to everyone who was involved.

Angelo Villagomez
Gualo Rai

Micronesia Challenge Climate Change Workshop

2009-03-19T14:21:00.003+11:00

The Micronesia Challenge will be having a Climate Change Workshop in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, from 14-17 April 2009 in response to a request from the Republic of the Marshall Islands at the 10th Micronesia Chief Executive Summit held in Pohnpei in May 2008. It is a continuation of the Micronesia Challenge Action Planning Meeting, which was held in Palau in 2006. In June 2008, the Micronesia Challenge technical working group had a measures workshop to determine measures and indicators of effective conservation for the Challenge. During that workshop the technical working group realized that the Challenge needed to start addressing the issue of Climate Change and adaptation.

During the UNFCCC COP14 in Poznan, Poland and at various events and meetings with donor countries, the governments of the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, declared that the Micronesia Challenge will be the framework by which the region addresses and responds to the adverse impacts of climate change, and similarly should be a model for climate change adaptation.

The purpose of the workshop is as follows:

Understand climate impacts, and possible risk reduction actions,
and collaborate on proactive climate adaptation work within the Micronesia Challenge jurisdictions

Objectives:

To present summaries of climate data
To identify climate risks and vulnerabilities
To identify and prioritize key national climate adaptation needs and issues
To outline local/national adaptation options and projects,
To formulate regional goals and secure regional collaboration in addressing climate impacts

Outputs/Outcomes

Increased understanding of the multi-sectoral risks and vulnerabilities
Synthesize draft climate change adaptation strategies and policies
Sustain commitment and networking among informed participants
Create a solid basis for follow-up and future adaptation activities

For more information please contact the Micronesia Challenge Coordinating Office, micronesichallenge@gmail.com

Getting Maps and Forest Inventory Assessment Data in the Hands of the Users

2009-03-16T15:24:00.004+11:00

On 9 March Department of Resources and Development Secretary Peter M. Christian addressed 40 delegates at the opening of the “Getting Maps and Forest Inventory Assessment Data in the Hands of the Users” 5-day Training Workshop at the Central Facility in Palikir, Pohnpei.

Since 2005, this is the first Forestry Inventory Assessment (FIA)-related training to be facilitated by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) to the four FSM States of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. The target audience for this training is Foresters, Resource managers and GIS personnel from the government and non-government sectors.

In addition to representatives from the four FSM States, partners from the Republic of Marshall Islands participated and national and regional resource agencies such as the Office of SBOC and the Secretariat of Pacific Community – Land Resource Division assisted in this FIA-related training.

“When we think of forests we associate it with high islands, we shouldn’t forget our outer islands that have similar issues as like our neighbors from the Marshalls. These forests are highly impacted by climatic change where they can contribute significantly to this training” said Secretary Christian.

The training goals are:
1. To educate and assist GIS specialists and resource personnel on the use of the Forest Service vegetation mapping, and kickoff the Statewide Assessment and Resource Strategy initiative;
2. To describe the FIA program, the data collected, and demonstrate how local resource managers can use the data in their own work.

For further information, contact Mr. Gibson Susumu, Agriculture Program Manager, FSM R&D Department. Email contact: Gibson.Susumu@dea.fm

Link to Beautify CNMI

2009-03-07T21:31:00.004+11:00

Would you like to help us spread the word about Beautify CNMI, an environmental coalition in the Northern Mariana Islands? Just copy and paste the following code into your blog template!

Link to Micronesia Conservation Trust

2009-03-07T21:25:00.003+11:00

Would you like to help us spread the word about Micronesia Conservation Trust, an organization that supports biodiversity conservation and related sustainable development for the people of Micronesia? Just copy and paste the following code into your blog template!

Link to Friends of the Monument

2009-03-07T21:19:00.004+11:00

Would you like to help us spread the word about the Friends of the Monument, the organization that helped designate the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument? Just copy and paste the following code into your blog template!

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Thanks!

ONWARD

2009-03-05T15:23:00.007+11:00

Bill Raynor has accepted a new postion in the Nature Conservancy where he will be the new Conservation Program Director, for Asia-Pacific and N. Asia Conservation Regions. His responsibilities will include supervising current cross-cutting program teams to better support the work of TNC's current programs in China, Mongolia, Indonesia, East Timor, Australia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

He will take some of the lessons TNC has learned while working in the Micronesia Program, especially those focused on supporting and growing local partners, and apply them on a regional level.

Bill started in his new position ½ time, January 1st, and will be fully transitioned April 1st. He will continue to work out of Pohnpei. His assignment for the first 6 months will be supporting the TNC Coral Triangle Program Team, conducting a review of the TNC Melanesia Program, and formalizing the current TNC Asia-Pacific cross-cutting programs team, made up of folks located from California to Bangkok to Beijing.

Starting March 1st, Trina Leberer will be the new TNC Micronesia Program Director.

MIC Member Profile: Mary Rose Nakayama

2009-03-04T17:37:00.002+11:00

Mary Rose Nakayama
Program Officer
Conservation and Environmental Protection Program
Micronesia Conservation Trust

Mary Rose joined the Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT) staff in 2007 after serving as one of its founding Board Members since 2002. She earned her Associates degree from the Health Careers Opportunities Program at the College of Micronesia National Camp. She later earned her Bachelors in Applied Science (Coastal Management) from Southern Cross University in New South Wales, Australia. Mary Rose also holds a Diploma in Conservation Education from the University of Kent at Canterbury. She has managed family businesses, and recently traveled to London, England to present the results of her work for the RARE Program. She has worked for the College of Micronesia, Chuuk Campus as a Conservation Education Coordinator and Research Aid and assisted with developing the Chuuk Biodiversity Strategy and Action plan as part of the NBSAP process. Her consultation work has concentrated on environmental issues including work for The Nature Conservancy and for the Department of Economic Affairs in conjunction with the COP Report. She belongs to numerous community organizations and boards including founding membership to the Board of the Chuuk Conservation Society and holding the Presidency of Guide and Assist Through Awareness, and providing technical assistance and advice to the Epinup Community as they make plans to manage their community-based conservation site.

MIC Member Profile: Willy Kostka

2009-03-04T17:30:00.002+11:00

Willy Kostka
Executive Director
Micronesia Conservation Trust

Willy has served as the Executive Director of Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT) since 2006. In addition to his executive duties, he also serves as the Co-coordinator of the Pacific Islands MPA Community, an initiative funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Prior to joining MCT Management he served as one of the founding members of the MCT Board of Directors, holding the offices of Chairman and Vice-Chairman. During that time, he served as the founding Executive Director of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, building the organization from the ground in 1998 into the leading conservation NGO in the FSM at the time of his departure. He earned an AA from Santa Rosa Junior College in 1990 and has attended numerous training courses and professional enhancement programs since. Notably, he was named a fellow by the Pew Foundation for Ocean Science in 2005 and has been active in the development and promotion of the Micronesia Challenge. He is active in community organizations and Boards including the Micronesians in Conservation, President’s Council on Sustainable Development, Pohnpei Resource Management Committee, and the Xavier High School Board. His other professional experience includes work as an elementary school teacher, various positions in the state government as an accountant and administrator and work in the private sector managing family business ventures.

What is the Micronesia Challenge?

2009-03-03T17:32:00.001+11:00

From Wikipedia:

The Micronesia Challenge is a regional inter-governmental initiative in the western Pacific region that would facilitate more effective conservation of marine and forest resources in Micronesia.

On November 5, 2005, then-President of Palau Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. called on his regional peers to join him in the Micronesia Challenge, which would effectively conserve 30 percent of near shore coastal waters and 20 percent of forest land by 2020. Joining the initiative were Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands, and the U.S. territories of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands. These nations and territories represent nearly 5 percent of the marine area of the Pacific Ocean and 7 percent of its coastlines.

The purpose of Micronesians in Island Conservation is to strengthen the collaborative, organizational, technical, and policy skills of leaders and organizations so that, together with communities, they can advance the conservation and management of important natural areas in Micronesia, including working on the Micronesia Challenge.

Carnival of the Blue XXII

2009-03-03T17:15:00.001+11:00

Carnival of the Blue XXII is now live at Rick MacPherson's Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, & Sunsets. It has been a while since I've submitted a post for Carnival of the Blue, not like I don't post something about the ocean every single month, but I managed to get my act together this month. Enjoy!

Contribute a Post

2009-03-03T16:49:00.006+11:00

We want to hear from you!

If you have a story to tell and would like to contribute to the Micronesians in Island Conservation blog, whether it be for one post or as a regular contributor, please contact me, Angelo Villagomez, at angelovillagomez at gmail dot com.

A post can be about a place, a group of people, a project, or an organization. Posts can be written or they can consist of a single photo or many photos. We can write a post about your organization's website and create a badge linking back to it. We can even upload a video to Youtube and post the video on the blog. Why, we would could incorporate all these things into a single post, too.

Just let me know what you would like to do and I'll help you make it happen.

Where is Micronesia?

2009-03-03T11:10:00.005+11:00

According to Wikipedia, Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising hundreds of small islands mostly north of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. The Philippines lie to the northwest, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia to the west and south, and Polynesia to the east.

The members of Micronesians in Island Conservation hail from (west to east) Palau, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae), and Marshall Islands. A delegate from Kiribati participated in the 10th MIC Retreat.

This map from Greenpeace shows the Exclusive Economic Zones for each of the Micronesian governments (and other Pacific nations). The area Micronesia covers is about the size of the Continental United States.

Contact Us

2009-03-03T11:02:00.006+11:00

Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) is made up of conservationists working in every jurisdiction in Micronesia, for both government and non-government entities. To reach individual members, please visit the websites of their respective agencies or organizations.

MIC is organized by a coordinator, who works in the Nature Conservancy office in Pohnpei. She and Angelo Villagomez of Saipan are the webmasters for this blog.

To contact Mae Adams, MIC Coordinator:

Federated States of Micronesia Program Office
The Nature Conservancy
Moylan's Insurance Building
Room 204
Kolonia, Pohnpei 96941
Federated States of Micronesia
Tel: +691-320-4267
Fax: +691-320-7422

Mailing Address:
The Nature Conservancy
P.O. Box 216 Kolonia
Pohnpei 96941
Federated States of Micronesia

Email: madams at tnc dot org

To contact Angelo Villagomez, Beautify CNMI Executive Director:

Beautify CNMI
PMB 360 BOX 10001
Saipan, MP 96950

Tel: 670 285-6462

Email: angelovillagomez at gmail dot com

Micronesia Challenge on Facebook

2009-03-03T10:08:00.004+11:00

Are you a member of Facebook? Would you like to be the envy of all your friends? There is now a Facebook Fan Page and a Facebook Group for the Micronesia Challenge. Join today!

Both the Fan Page and the Group allow users to post comments on a discussion board, upload photos and video, suggest links, and leave comments. The Fan Page allows the administrator to write notes or, as I prefer to do, syndicate a blog feed. I am syndicating the Micronesians in Island Conservation blog until there is a Micronesia Challenge blog. The thing I like best about both is that the administrator has the ability to send messages to every member of both the Group and the Fan Page. This will come in handy, especially once the membership gets into the thousands.

Additionally, the Fan Page links to Fan Pages for the Micronesian governments that have signed onto the Micronesia Challenge: Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. It also links to a Fan Page for Beautify CNMI, an environmental coalition in the Marianas supportive of the Micronesia Challenge. I will link to other non-profits working on the Micronesia Challenge once someone sets up their Fan Pages. (Pehaps we can do this at the next MIC retreat or maybe the next steering committee meeting?)

So what are you waiting for? Log into Facebook and join the Facebook Fan Page and the Facebook Group for the Micronesia Challenge.

TNC Annual Staff Retreat

2009-03-02T15:31:00.002+11:00

The Naure Conservacny had its Annual retreat in Pohnpei, from 16-20 February. The objective of the retreat was:

Review progress on the Micronesia Action Plan FY08-10, share experiences in the field and learn from each other
Review of new organizational structure of the Micronesia Program
Review Progress on the Micronesia Challenge and our supporting role
Learn how to be better supervisors and learn what our supervisors should be doing better!
Review our Team Charter and make sure we’re “living it” in our daily interactions
Begin planning for FY10 goals and budgets and explore using “Miradi” to streamline this process
Learn about conservation issues on Pohnpei and interact with key partners there
Reinforce our mutual commitment to our vision for Micronesia conservation “The people of Micronesia taking local action and inspiring leadership to sustain their natural heritage in a rapidly changing world” and to partnerships, teamwork and our team values.
Rejuvenate and motivate our team

During the retreat, the Micronesia Program staff visited the Ngahtik Marine Protected Area with the Conservation Society of Pohnpei. The Micronesia Program saw what 15 years of hard work in Pohnpei has final lead to... Local communities, effectively managing and conserving their natural resources. The trip to Ngahtik was inspiring and gave the team a rejuvinated sense of purpose.

Although the retreat was a success, there was a dark cloud that hung around. Due to the world economic crisis we found out during our retreat that we would be loosing 2 key staff. Dr. Sean Austin, our Conservation Coordinator will be leaving the Conservancy in the end of May; and Dr. Eric Verheij, our Protected Areas Network Advisor, will be leaving in December. Despite the sad news, we were able to accomplish our objectives for the retreat with an optimistic and upbeat attitude.

Micronesia Challenge Logo

2009-03-02T11:34:00.002+11:00

The Micronesia Challenge logo was developed by Luke, an artist in Yap, and incorporates the creativity, compassion and, perhaps most importantly, the true culture of Micronesia. While the basic design is of a turtle with an "M" as the front fins and a "C" as the body, the logo also incorporates the overall aspects of air, sea and land and has come to mean different things to different people with some saying they see an island, some a bird in flight and still others seeing waves. "Micronesia" is in blue to match the "M" in the logo and "Challenge" is in green to match the "C." This logo is now the official logo of the Micronesia Challenge.

MIC member petitions Obama

2009-02-26T12:03:00.000+11:00

During tomorrow's business meeting of the US Coral Reef Task Force in Washington DC, the Executive Director of the Coral Reef Alliance will be presenting Recommendations for Coral Reef Conservation to the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress. This document represents a collaborative, cross-NGO set of recommendations for swift and decisive action by the Obama Administration and Congress for responding to the global coral reef crisis.

Two Micronesians have attached their names and their organizations to this call for action. One is Ignacio V. Cabrera, Chairman of the Friends of the Monument. The other is yours truly, signing as the Executive Director of Beautify CNMI.

Here is the letter, posted in its entirety:

Recommendations for Coral Reef Conservation
To the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress

Healthy coral reefs are the largest living structures on the planet and the second largest storehouse of biological diversity. These highly productive ecosystems are economically valuable, with reef-based tourism generating over $1.2 billion each year in the Florida Keys alone. Coral reefs provide coastal protection, food, and income, supporting the livelihoods of approximately 100 million people around the world.

However, coral reefs in the United States and worldwide are declining at an alarming rate. Unless we take immediate action, we could lose up to 70 percent of the world’s coral reefs by 2050. Human activities have damaged coral reefs to the point of being the most threatened ecosystem on Earth; they are currently teetering on the edge of destruction. Fortunately, three major human impacts on reefs—climate change, overfishing, and pollution—are reversible if we act now. As noted undersea explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle has stated: “If reefs are in trouble, we are in trouble.”

We are encouraged by indications that the Obama Administration and the new Congress will establish a serious commitment to coral reef conservation through the appointment of Dr. Jane Lubchenco–a distinguished ocean scientist with a strong track record in ocean conservation–to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We also see a tremendous opportunity for the United States to continue its leadership role in helping to reverse the downward spiral of coral reef destruction and ensure the health and survival of these invaluable resources for future generations.

We urge the Administration to adopt the strongest possible measures for the protection and conservation of coral reef ecosystems and stand ready to partner with the new administration in designing and implementing an effective and global coral reef conservation strategy. Such measures could include the following:

• Reauthorize the U.S. Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, including authorizing international coral reef conservation activities;

• Support passage of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act;

• Enact meaningful reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that target CO2 concentrations to stabilize at levels climate scientists determine are necessary to preserve coral reef ecosystems;

• Fund and lead domestic and international coral reef conservation efforts through NOAA, USAID, EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the State Department;

• Support NOAA’s priorities in reducing impacts to coral reefs from fishing and land-based sources of pollution;

• Effectively conserve at least 30 percent of coral reef and reef-associated coastal resources in U.S. states and territories using marine managed areas over the next eight years; and

• Provide more support for ocean education and citizen-science programs to create an educated public that understands and is committed to ocean conservation.

Reauthorize the U.S. Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000
The reauthorization of the Coral Reef Conservation Act must be a priority for the 111th Congress during 2009. The act was established in 2000 to preserve coral reef ecosystems, promote wise management, and obtain better information about
the current condition of coral reefs. As a result of this act, millions of Americans have been educated about the coral reef crisis, research has documented the threats and damage, and large areas such as the Northwest Hawaiian Islands have been protected. It is critical to continue this work to give reefs any chance to survive and to expand similar strategies around the world by authorizing activities for international coral reef conservation.

Support passage of the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act
Increasing CO2 in the world’s atmosphere is taking its toll on the oceans by increasing the acidity of sea water, which in turn threatens the stability of the marine food chain and the ability of corals to build reefs. Essentially, as the oceans increase in acidity it becomes more difficult for animals such as scallops, clams, crabs, plankton and corals to build their shells or skeletons and slows the development of their larvae. The Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act focuses federal research on rising ocean acidity and establishes a comprehensive research and monitoring program within NOAA.

Enact Meaningful Reductions in Carbon Dioxide Emissions that Target CO2 Concentrations to Stabilize at Levels Climate Scientists Determine are Necessary
In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions must be prioritized. Without action, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is expected to exceed 500 parts per million (ppm) between 2050 and 2100, and global temperatures will likely rise by at least 2°C. Under these conditions, global warming and ocean acidification are predicted to damage and kill most reefs. We urge the federal government to take aggressive action to reduce emissions now–action that can serve as a benchmark for international leadership.

Fund and Lead Domestic and International Coral Reef Conservation Efforts through NOAA, USAID, EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the State Department
With the recent addition of the Marianas Trench, Pacific Remote Islands, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monuments, ensuring adequate capacity for management and monitoring of these and other domestic coral resources has never been more critical. The United States should also provide increased leadership in international and national coral reef conservation efforts. As increasing areas of reefs are damaged, tens of millions of people around the world will become desperate for food in countries that are critically important for global stability. Stopping coral reef destruction now and investing in conservation is an investment in global security.

Support NOAA’s Priorities in Reducing Impacts to Coral Reefs from Fishing and Land-based Sources of Pollution
Along with large-scale threats resulting from climate change, NOAA has identified land-based sources of pollution and impacts from fishing as priority areas for coral reef conservation. Land-based sources of pollution and poor water quality are recognized as two of the most important factors driving coral reef decline. In addition, rapid human population increases, growth of export fisheries, use of more efficient fishery gear, expansion of destructive fishing techniques, and inadequate management and enforcement have led to the depletion of not only keystone reef fish species, but also associated species and ecosystems. For these reasons, we recommend expanded funding and legislative capacity for NOAA to better manage recreational and commercial fisheries and land-based sources of pollution to meet coral reef conservation objectives.

Effectively Conserve at Least 30 Percent of Coral Reef and Reef-Associated Coastal Resources in U.S. States and Territories Using Marine Managed Areas over the Next Eight Years
Full protection of at least 30 percent of the planet’s coral reefs from human activities is a reasonable and realistic management goal that will allow reefs to thrive. On November 5, 2005, then President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr., of Palau called on his peers to join him in the Micronesia Challenge to effectively conserve 30 percent of near-shore marine resources within marine protected areas by 2020. Similarly, Caribbean governments have called for 20 percent protection of marine and coastal habitats by 2020 in the Caribbean Challenge. We ask for the United States to join the many nations that recognize the importance of marine managed areas for effective coral reef conservation and provide the staff and funding needed for active research, monitoring, enforcement, and local management.

Provide More Support for Ocean Education and Citizen-Science Programs
By becoming educated about the value of coral reefs and threats to their survival, the public can become strong advocates for conservation and sustainability. One of the most effective means of education is a citizen-science program that turns
hands-on experience into knowledge. As a leader in marine conservation, the new administration should provide increased support for ocean education and citizen-science programs in the United States and internationally.

Respectfully,

Core Signatories
Angelo Villagomez, Executive Director, Beautify CNMI
Brendan Cummings, Oceans Program Director, Center for Biological Diversity
Roger McManus, Vice President for Marine Programs, Conservation International
Brian Huse, Executive Director, Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL)
Ignacio V. Cabrera, Chair, Friends of the Monument
Kristian Teleki, Director, International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN)
Carolyn Stewart, Executive Director, Malama Kai Foundation
Mark Spaulding, Executive Director, The Ocean Foundation
Jenny Miller Garmendia, Director, Project AWARE Foundation
Liz Foote, Executive Director, Project SEA Link
Gregor Hodgson, Executive Director, Reef Check
Bill Eichbaum, Vice President of Marine Portfolio, World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF)

I highlighted what I consider to be the most significant recommendation, at least from my little rock in the sun. I think it is significant that two Micronesians are challenging the President of the United States to meet what one day could become the "American Challenge."

The Micronesia Challenge, which seeks to effectively conserve 30% of our nearshore resources and 20% of our terrestrial resources by 2020, has received lots of attention over the last several years, including former President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr of Palau, the man behind the Micronesia Challenge, being recognized by Time Magazine as one of the "Heroes of the Environment" in 2007.

Palau, the Marianas, and the rest of Micronesia are Small Island Nations, or as I prefer to call them, Large Ocean Nations. Our populations are small and our conservation budgets are smaller, but every single day we live with the environment. Unlike large developed nations that have a concept of the environment as someplace far away (i.e. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument or Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), the environment for Micronesians is literally in our front yard. Local people catch their dinners on the beach 50 meters from my apartment. If we don't act as good stewards of our environment, we don't eat.

The environment in Saipan is central to our economy. Not only do we depend on healthy populations of fish to feed our families, but our economy is heavily dependent on tourism. Additionally, the environment, our ocean, our beaches, and our green forests, are consistently cited as the main attractions for tourists in the Marianas. Those tourists spend money and create jobs, which in turn generates tax revenue to support all those people in government jobs.

These ideas deserve to be explored further, which I will do in the near future. This post was really just meant to post the letter.

I hope that the Obama administration takes these recommendations seriously and I hope that he recognizes and considers the Large Ocean Nations that will live with his decisions. As with Climate Change, we'll feel the effects of poor policy sooner and with more intensity than the richer, larger, more developed nations.

Photos of Yela

2009-02-24T09:15:00.004+11:00

These photos go along with the Yela blog post from a few days ago.

An aerial photo of the Yela Forest.

Tholman, Nick, and William in the Yela Forest.

A canopy photo taken from the ground.

MIC members discuss climate change

2009-02-23T12:29:00.003+11:00

The 11th MIC Retreat took place about a month ago. A version of this press release edited for the CNMI appeared in the Saipan Tribune and Marianas Variety a few weeks ago. I was supposed to send out this version a while ago, but only got around to it this morning.

Micronesia is going to be one of the regions to first feel the effects of climate change. I'm sure it will become one of the most discussed environmental topics over the next few years.

FOR IMMEADIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2009

Contacts:
Angelo Villagomez, angelovilagomez@gmail.com
Mae Bruton Adams, madams@tnc.org

Environmental leaders take part in region-wide retreat, Discuss Climate Change

Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia - Local conservation strategies and community involvement were on full display last month in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, as environmental leaders from across the region participated in the 11th Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) Retreat.

The retreat, which lasted from January 26-30, was held at the former Pohnpei Agricultual & Trade School in the Madolenihmw municipality of Pohnpei. The purposes of having the retreat in a remote site were so that the participants could become immersed in the local culture & community and develop closer ties with one another.

Environmental leaders from across the Micronesia region participated in the retreat. Representing government and non-government, managers and advocates, local and national levels, up-and-coming and veteran conservationists, the 20 participants hailed from CNMI, Guam, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.

During the retreat members set short and long term personal, professional, and institutional goals. Many of the members have similar goals, or set goals that other members have already attained. Members learn from one another and collaborate together on meeting their goals.

“As a young conservationist I can look at some of the members who have been doing this for 30 years and learn from them,” said Angelo Villagomez of Beautify CNMI.

Members also discuss common institutional and conservation challenges during the retreats. These sessions are “break-out” sessions. Members “break-out” into small groups to discuss challenges, recommend ways forward and determine next steps. After meeting in the small groups members bring their findings back to the group at large for more discussion.

One of the conservation challenges discussed by members this year was surviving climate change. Marine protected areas, like the recently established Marianas Trench Marine National Monument, were identified as a buffer to the effects of climate change.

According to Marshall Islands Conservation Society Executive Director Steve Why, “Our contributions to climate change are small compared to what larger nations contribute, but due to our number of low-lying atolls, the effects of climate change will arrive sooner and be more severe in Micronesia than elsewhere on the globe.”

Micronesian Conservation Trust Executive Director, Willy Kostka, also addressed the group concerning climate change. Kostka said that Pacific Islanders should not point fingers at the larger nations without “taking a look in their own back yard.” Kostka asked the question, “What kind of credibility do we have when we are still using fossil fuels, driving SUVs, and importing food from thousands of miles away?” He added that Pacific Island nations should strive to be models for combating climate change.

The members also had time to become immersed in the local culture and community. On the first night of the retreat they were welcomed by the Kepirohi Village of Madolenihmw Municipality and participated in a sakau ceremony.

On Wednesday they visited the Soamwoai Village in Kitti Municipality and their local marine protected area. They toured the bamboo raft the community uses for monitoring and surveillance of the Enpein Marine Protected Area and were treated to a feast and another sakau ceremony in the village.

On the last night of the retreat, members of the Tamworohi Parish prepared an uhmw dinner of pig and breadfruit roasted in a local underground oven.

“I was really impressed by the amount of community buy-in. I would love to follow their model to get our community more involved in conservation,” commented Fran Castro of Saipan.

The purpose of MIC is to strengthen the collaborative, organizational, technical, and policy skills of leaders and organizations so that, together with communities, they can advance the conservation and management of important natural areas in Micronesia.

The 12th MIC Retreat will take place in October on Palau.

Beautify CNMI Email List

2009-02-20T11:25:00.001+11:00

I've spent the last two weeks getting Beautify CNMI back up to speed. I've started a Beautify CNMI Facebook fan page and I've updated the email list. We'll have activities all year in 2009. If you would like to be added to the email list, please email me at angelovillagomez at gmail dot com or call me at 285 6462 and I will add you.

Yela

2009-02-17T09:14:00.001+11:00

Kosrae is a small, mostly undeveloped island in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The 42 square mile island supports a diverse number of intact and pristine ecosystems both under and above the sea. One such ecosystem is the Yela forest and its watershed. Yela is a freshwater swamp forest just above the mangrove line that supports the last Ka (Terminalia carolinensis) forest in the world. Such forests were once found on several islands in Micronesia but due to harvest and development extensive stands of Ka have disappeared.

In 2005 the 10 families that own the Yela forest began to move in a direction to protect this unique forest for future generations. The family started by forming a conservation non-profit organization now known as the Yela Environment Landowners Authority (YELA) in 2006. YELA is now moving forward with protecting the important habitat and resource values of the forest in perpetuity with a conservation easement. Conservation easements are a legal tool in the United States that maintain property in the landowner’s possession while protecting defined ecological values. Essentially the landowner relinquishes the right to develop the property into homes, buildings, and roads forever. Only a non-profit or government entity can purchase and hold a conservation easement in the States. If the landowner sells the property, the conservation easement still encumbers or follows the land. Kosrae’s Attorney General, JD Lee, has issued a draft legal opinion stating that a conservation easement will, in fact, be valid in perpetuity in the FSM legal system. This would be the first conservation easement in the Federated States and all of Micronesia.

Property ownership on Kosrae, including the forest owned by YELA, is similar to that of other Micronesian Islands in that most lands are understood to be traditionally owned and therefore lack a legal document, or title, that describes the exact boundaries and the name(s) of the land owner(s). Without the title to describe the extent and ownership of the property a conservation easement would not be possible. Over the past year and a half YELA has worked with the Kosraean Land Survey to determine the exact property boundaries. The 35 hectare property is now under review by the Land Court and a deed is expected to be granted in the near future.

The next step in placing a conservation easement over Yela is to determine the value of the easement. To accomplish this YELA was awarded a LifeWeb grant from the Micronesia Conservation Trust. The grant engaged California real estate specialist Mike Conner from The Nature Conservancy and MAI certified appraiser Nick Captain from Guam for the assignment. The pair spent several days on Kosrae with YELA Executive Director Tholman Alik and Project Manager William William (not a typo) looking at the forest and researching land values on the island. Once the value of the easement has been determined then YELA will consider if it thinks the value is appropriate and it will either proceed towards encumbering the property with a conservation easement or it will pursue alternative avenues for conservation.

Together the Yela protection partnership (consisting of Kosrae Governor Weilbacher, Attorney General JD Lee, Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority, Kosrae Conservation & Safety Organization, USDA Forest Service, Secretariat of the Pacific, Micronesia Conservation Trust, YELA and The Nature Conservancy) are working toward: 1) placing a conservation easement over Yela therefore protecting this unique forest in perpetuity and 2) creating a new legal tool for conservation in the FSM. The project is ambitious and exciting as it has the potential to lead to greater conservation throughout Micronesia. Based on the strength and commitment of the individuals that comprise the partnership we hope to succeed.

The Right to Fish

2009-02-16T11:15:00.004+11:00

Posted below is a passage from Reef Ecology and Conservation by Robert H. Richmond of University of Hawaii, Manoa; Willy Kostka of Micronesia Conservation Trust; and Noah Idechong Palau National Congress

STEWARDSHIP VERSUS THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS

Coral reef conservation practices in many of the Pacific Islands reflect a stewardship ethic that stems from ownership of the resource, as well as responsibility for addressing problems and their solutions. This is in contrast to the Western “Tragedy of the Commons” scenario, where there is universal ownership and no direct lines of responsibility by stakeholders. The advantages of traditional leadership, which still exists in a variety of forms in the Pacific, is the speed at which conservation-based decisions can be put into practice. For example, it took nearly five years for conservation policies to be developed and enforced following studies demonstrating overexploitation of a sea cucumber fishery in the Galápagos Islands. In Yap, it took only one day to move from data presentation to village chiefs to a policy decision to close the fishery. A distinguishing feature of most traditional leadership systems is community compliance without the need for legislation, enforcement activities, and legal proceedings.

Recent efforts to cite “the right to fish” as part of traditional cultures to argue against the establishment of MPAs and other conservation measures are falsely based. Fishing, including the use of specific types of gear, access to particular areas, and the consumption of certain species, is a privilege granted by chiefs or master fishermen and was never a right. These privileges are granted by traditional leaders based on considerations including resource availability and sustainability and may be rescinded if conditions warrant.

Beautify CNMI Ambassador Program

2009-02-16T11:13:00.001+11:00

Beautify CNMI was listed as one of the participating programs in the NMC Service Learning grant. The way it works is students donate their time in exchange for scholarship money. I met with the coordinators at NMC on Friday and we came up with a Beautify CNMI Ambassador Program. Basically the students would help me with coordination of Beautify CNMI, taking a load of my shoulders and learning some valuable organizing skills in the process.

Nobody has signed up yet, but about 10 students came to our cleanup of Laulau Beach yesterday, so I'm hopeful. This is the program summary I sent to NMC today:

Beautify CNMI Ambassador Program
For NMC students in the service learning program

Learn how to conduct an environmental public awareness and stewardship campaign.

Participants will:

-Coordinating with government and businesses, plan an island-wide cleanup in April
-Recruit and manage participants in the cleanup
-Work with participants to adopt their adopted site for at least one year
-Help sustain cleanup and other beautification activities after island-wide cleanup
-Work with newspapers, radio, TV, and other media to broadcast campaign message
-Contribute to Myspace, Facebook, blogs , and websites to further campaign goals

Hopefully you'll be reading about the Beautify CNMI Ambassadors in the newspapers in the next couple of weeks. I'll need to get them on board right away. The first island-wide cleanup meeting is this Wednesday at DEQ.

11th MIC Retreat

2009-02-12T09:38:00.002+11:00

The 11th Micronesians in Island Conservation Retreat took place in Pohnpei from January 26-30. The retreat was held at the Pohnpei Agriculture & Trade School. This Youtube video was created by Beautify CNMI's Angelo Villagomez.

Just One of Many Reasons for Conservation Work

2008-09-11T16:18:00.006+11:00

There are so many reason to do conservatoin work. Often times we talk about preserving the biodiversity of the plant; or how crucial a health environment is to the stability of the world markets; then we get stories about children spending time enjoying nature. When I look into the eyes of the future, I am driven to do my part to leave the future generations a healthy plant.

Allois Malfatani is co-owner of the Pohnpei Surf Club. On occassion he takes time out of his busy schedule to teach children how to surf. Allois has also been involved in conservation activities in Pohnpei doing volunteer work with the Conservation Society of Pohnpei. He sent me this message (with pictures).

In most places around the world, surfing lessons take place on a beach, with long soft rolling waves, onto a white sandy beach. Not in Pohnpei, but that was not an obstacle for the kids who attended the Pohnpei Surf Club Surf Day for Kids at Nahlap Island Resort on 30th of August.

All kids had an introduction to surfboards on flat water learning how to paddle, sit on the surfboards, they got towed around on top of some fun water toys and when the tide got high enough to cover the reef, all kids hit the surf!

Around 30 kids had no problem with the absence of the white sandy beach or dealing with the shallow and sharp reef on the inside where the waves were breaking. All had fun and some potential champions were spotted.

The Pohnpei Surf Club would like to give thanks to all participants who came along, the volunteers who helped and Nahlap Island Resort for providing us with the location for the event.
http://www.pohnpeisurfclub.com/

Micronesia Challenge: Turning Vision into Action

2008-09-11T15:53:00.004+11:00

Leading the World in Island and Coral Reef Conservation To recognize the tremendous progress by the government of Palau over the past two years towards fulfilling their Micronesia Challenge commitments, The Nature Conservancy presented the country with the first $1 million check to launch a regional Micronesia Challenge Endowment to help sustainably finance the Challenge.

This is part of the Conservancy’s $3 million commitment made at the outset of the Challenge — a commitment by five Micronesian governments to effectively conserve 30% of their near-shore marine resources and 20% of their terrestrial resources by 2020.

The Conservancy's pledge was matched by Conservation International. Palau and its partner governments have already leveraged these commitments to raise an additional $6 million in funding from the Global Environment Facility as well as other agencies, organizations and governments towards a target of $100 million for the endowment.

Along with this fundraising success, Palau is poised to become the first developing country in the world to create a nationwide, financially self-sustaining Protected Areas Network (PAN) that will truly benefit nature and people. President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. signed legislation to establish this network and ensure its long-term management by instituting a visitor’s fee that will generate approximately $1.6 million annually for the PAN.

As the founding co-chair of the growing Global Island Partnership, Palau and President Remengesau are setting a new standard for tangible conservation action and keeping the Micronesia Challenge at the forefront of island and coral reef conservation worldwide.

As President Remengesau’s eight years in office comes to an end in January, the Conservancy invites all involved with the Micronesia Challenge and the Global Island Partnership to join us in applauding his exemplary leadership — and to renew our own resolve to work together to fulfill the precedent-setting commitments made by these five visionary Micronesian governments — the Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the U.S. Territory of Guam, and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Learn more about the progress of the Micronesia Challenge as well as the initiatives it sparked around the world with the help of the Global Island Partnership, including the Caribbean Challenge and the Coral Triangle Initiative.

Photo Credit © Jez O'Hare; © ANP

The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants,

animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life

on Earth byprotecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

CSP Equator Prize Winner

2008-09-10T16:16:00.003+11:00

Conservation Society of Pohnpei has been chosen by the Equator Initiative’s Technical Advisory Committee as one of 25 outstanding winners of the Equator Prize 2008.

Patterson Shed, executive director of CSP will be travelling to Spain to recieve the award on CSP's behalf.

Micronesia Challenge: Coordinator & Communications Specialist

2008-08-20T15:46:00.005+11:00

Charlene Mersai of Palau selected as
Regional Coordinator for Micronesia Challenge
Specialist Also Selected to Head Communications Outreach

Palikir, FSM – Charlene Mersai, an environmental veteran with more than 10 years experience in the conservation field, has been selected as the Micronesia Challenge Regional Coordinator, the Micronesia Challenge Steering Committee announced today. Mersai was most recently a researcher at the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC).

“Ms. Mersai brings a great deal of experience in the environmental field to the table,” said Marion Henry, Assistant Secretary with the FSM Department of Resources and Development and Chairman of the Micronesia Challenge Steering Committee. “Her in-depth knowledge of research and conservation management issues combined with the positive working relationships she has already established with key environmental groups in the region will prove to be a tremendous asset in moving the Micronesian Challenge forward.”

While at the PICRC, Mersai’s responsibilities included leading the socio-economic component of the marine protected areas pilot project, evaluation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) management effectiveness, and overseeing the national Mangrove Phytosociological Survey. Additional responsibilities included conducting underwater surveys, and the development of the Introductory Handbook for Biological and Social Monitoring of MPAs in Palau. Prior to her position at PICRC, Charlene worked with the Belau National Museum, the Palau Conservation Society, and the Koror State Government, all in conservation-oriented positions.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology & Biology from the University of Hawaii-Hilo, followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Ocean Resources Management from the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.

The Micronesian Challenge Steering Committee also announced that Jeff Martin, a communications specialist with more than 20 years experience in the public relations field, has signed on to help direct communications outreach. Martin was previously the Director of Media Relations for the Council on Foundations where he provided strategic counsel to member foundations regarding national philanthropic issues and served as organization spokesperson.

Before joining the Council, Martin served as the Public Affairs Specialist for the Peace Corps. He has also worked with international firms including Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, and Edelman Public Relations Worldwide.

The Micronesia Challenge Steering Committee was established in 2006 to oversee the regional coordination and implementation of the Micronesia Challenge, and is made up of the five Micronesia Challenge Focal Points appointed by the Chief Executives of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau, the Executive Director of the Micronesia Conservation Trust, and the Chairman of the Micronesia Challenge Support Team.

Conservation Society of Pohnpei Board Training

2008-08-05T06:08:00.002+11:00

09 July 2008, the Conservation Society of Pohnpei had its board training, to refresh old members of their responsibilities while serving on the CSP board and to educate new members on what is expected of them while they serve on the board for the next three years.

The objectives of the training were the following:

• To gain a clear understanding of the CSP Board’s responsibilities
• To determine CSP Board’s structure
• To define the individual responsibilities of Board members
• To have clear job descriptions: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer
• To have clear definition of conflict of interest and how to mitigate them
• To learn how to have productive meetingsTo be familiar with the Board Manual

MC Workshop June 2008 Objectives

2008-07-10T13:26:00.005+11:00

Communications Working Group, working to consolidate and streamline communications efforts for the Challenge, had five associated objectives for the workshop session.

To review and finalize a modular regional MC Communications Plan;
To develop a template for island wide communications plans that clearly link to the regional MC Communications Plan and also jurisdictional priorities;
To build a cohesive regional communications team by sharing information and lessons learned among communications and outreach working group members and carrying out team building exercises that support capacity building;
To begin the development of a regional inventory of summaries, photos, presentations, and other outreach materials; and
To provide recommendations to the MC measures working group to foster the development of effectiveness measures that support messaging to key audiences.

Measures Working Group were to define a proposed process and timeline for the periodic measurements and analysis of progress made toward achieving the goals of the MC.
They had 5 associated objectives:

To establish a technical working group focused on developing a process for and coordinating the periodic completion of measurement and analysis of progress made toward achieving the goals for the MC;
To identify the regional overlaps and gaps associated with biological and social indicators related to natural resource management being collected across terrestrial and marine ecosystems by participating agencies and organization operating within each of the participating jurisdictions;
To identify a shared set of results chains that are related to the MC goals;
To build consensus around a proposed set of relevant and useful categories of MC measures as a possible set of corresponding indicators to be collected across jurisdictions, as appropriate; and
To produce recommendations to the MC communications working group on how the outputs of the MC measures working group should be used for messaging purposes.

Opening of the 1st Meeting of the Micronesia Challenge

2008-07-10T10:50:00.008+11:00

On 2 June His Excellency President Mori addressed delegates at the opening of the 1st Meeting of the Micronesia Challenge Technical and Communications Working Groups at the FSM national government conference centre at Palikir, Pohnpei.

Since 2006, when the Heads of Government from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the United States Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, signed up to 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, work has been progressing to support the implementation of these ambitious goals.

President 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.

President 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. The commitment it 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 grass-roots of each local community,” said President 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.

President Mori noted that despite initiatives like the Micronesia Challenge, some citizens and political leaders are not yet heeding the call for conservation. With this, President Mori made a personal commitment.

“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’.”

Over five days the Working Groups met to develop activities to drive the Challenge forward. The Technical Working Group developed a process for measuring the effectiveness of on the ground conservation activities using biological and social indicators for the marine and terrestrial resources. The Communication Working Group developed a regional communications plan to better engage with key partners for the Challenge and to improve coordination across all five jurisdictions.

During the week the Micronesia Challenge Steering Committee comprised of the five jurisdictional representatives or ‘focal points’ met and elected Mr Marion Henry as the new Chairperson of the Steering Committee. Other items discussed by the Committee included hiring a regional coordinator, updates from each jurisdictional focal point on their sustainable financing plans and development of a business plan for the Micronesia Challenge.

For further information contact Marion Henry, Chairman, Micronesia Challenge Steering Committee. Email: marionh@mail.fm

The Micronesia Challenge is a collective commitment by the Heads of Government of five Micronesian jurisdictions -- the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the United States Territory of Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas -- to effectively conserve at least 30% of their marine and 20% of their forest environments by 2020. It was announced to the international community in March 2006 at the 8th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

REVIEWED & APPROVED BY:

MC Vice-chair: FranSupport

Partner: Bill Raynor

SEM-Pasifika Training Program -- Majuro

2008-06-18T16:51:00.006+11:00

From May 4-9, a SEM-Pasifika (socio-economic monitoring) training program began in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Eighteen trainees attended from around the region including American Samoa, Hawaii, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Yap. Also attending, were representatives from various Marshall Islands resource agencies and local community members from Arno atoll.

The objectives of the week-long training were to: 1) provide the participants with background, purposes and methodological procedures of socioeconomic monitoring based on SEM-Pasifika Guidelines, 2) build capacity of the participants to use SEM-Pasifika guidelines, and 3) initiate socioeconomic assessment and monitoring /work plans /for 8 Pacific Island jurisdictions.

To fulfill these objectives this training program was designed to be carried out in three phases. The first phase (the RMI training) was aimed at introducing and practicing socio-economic tools and techniques. Participants were asked to attend the training with information from a specific site that had a complete or draft management plan. They used information from their site management plan to carry out socio-economic assessment preparatory activities (e.g. identify goals, objectives, information needs, and indicators) and develop a work plan to complete an assessment. For the field exercise, the RMI team provided workshop participants with information about the management goals from the Arno atoll management plan. The workshop group used this information to carry out a focus group, and develop, pre-test, and analyze a survey to capture baseline information and assess management effectiveness of Arno, Arno MPAs.

Specific outputs of the workshop include:

a pre-tested draft survey to be used by the Marshall Islands team to carry out socio-economic assessments in Arno and other atolls.

8 workplans that include next steps and time-lines for completing social assessments at jurisdictional sits.

draft preparatory activities completed by each jurisdiction including socio-economic assessment goals, objectives, informationneeds, indicators, stakeholder identification, and communications planning

an agreement to pick 2-3 regional socio-economic indicators that all groups will try and incorporate into local assessments and monitor over time.

For the second phase of the SEM-Pasifika training program, off-site technical advice will be provided to further guide development of surveys, and seed funding will be provided to implement site assessments in all jurisdictions.

Finally, on-site technical support will be provided to help trainees analyze survey data and communicate and apply results into management planning. Workshop attendees agreed to share assessment reports and lessoned learned about their sites to support further learning in the region. Outcomes of this training will support development and adaptive management of on-site management activities.

Additionally, the training outputs will provide socio-economic information to conservation efforts and measures of success that contribute to the goals of the Micronesia Challenge.
This training is sponsored and facilitated through a partnership between NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program - SocMon, the Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC), the Pacific Islands Marine Protected Area Community (PIMPAC), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP.)

10th MIC Retreat -- Guam

2008-06-18T16:32:00.003+11:00

On April 14, 2008 members of the Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) met in Guam for the 10th MIC retreat. Every nine months members of MIC, from the Republic of the Marshalls, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, Territory of Guam and the Common Wealth of the Northern Marianas, meet to review progress on goals, share lessons learned, and identify issues for collaboration at local, national or regional levels. The retreats provide: 1) opportunities for members to point out specific needs and identify mentors for future learning exchanges; 2) a means for members to stay connected with ongoing conservation work in other Micronesian countries and; 3) it allows members to reconnect with their peers and be a source of encouragement to each other.

During the retreat MIC members were inspired by many Guam community conservation leaders such as Linda Tatreau, a high school teacher at George Washington High school who created a program called Marine Maniacs which has inspired her students to take a more proactive approach to preserving the natural heritage of Guam; by Daniel Vice, assistant director of Department of Fish and Wildlife who shared with members about Guam’s continuing efforts to control the brown tree snake population in Guam; and finally by Cheryl Calaustro, the Guam Rare Pride Campaign Coordinator, who discussed with MIC the Cocos Island bird restoration project.

Mr. Tukabu Teroroko, Director of the Phoenix Island Protected Area (PIPA), Kiribait, was invited to the retreat to share with the MIC members about the ongoing conservation work in the Phoenix Islands. Mr. Teroroko shared with members the success of PIPA and discussed with members the current challenges that face Kiribati in maintaining and regulating the vast protected area. At the end of the retreat, Mr. Teroroko was invited to become a member of MIC, which he accepted. Mr. Teroroko stated that he felt MIC was an important initiative and one that would add value to his ongoing work in Kiribati. Mr. Teroroko also pledged that his organization would assist MIC by writing into his PIPA budget his attendance to future MIC retreats.

MIC gained three new members: 1) Fran Castro, director of Department of Environment Quality and the Micronesia Challenge focal point for CNMI; 2) Cheryl Calaustro, Guam Department of Agriculture and the RARE Pride Campaign Coordinator and; 3) Tukabu Teroroko, director of the Phoenix Island Protected Areas.

The next MIC Retreat will be held sometime in January 2009, in Pohnpei. The main focus of the 11th MIC Retreat will be sustainable financing for the MIC network, identifying a regional goal, and building the capacity of the members to help them achieve their institutional goals.

The Passing of a Conservation Champion

2008-06-18T16:02:00.004+11:00

When Dakio Paul returned to the small pacific island of Pohnpei in 1990 after nearly two decades of working and living in Saipan, he immediately went back to the place that represented the best of his childhood memories--Black Coral Island, known locally as Kehpara.

From February to April of each year, the reefs around Black Coral were famous for the largest recorded fish spawning aggregation in the Western Pacific – between 15,000-20,000 adult individuals aggregated for 2-3 months along a 200 meter stretch of reef just east of Black Coral Island.

In partnership with Pohnpei’s Marine Resources Division, Dakio announced to the adjacent communities that Black Coral was now closed to fishing. At first, the local community, many of Dakio’s own family members, were resistant. Fisherman challenged Dakio’s right to close the area, which by law was “public waters.” Night and day, local fisherman trespassed into the area and still fished.

With only his boat and a 15 horse-power engine, Dakio patrolled the waters and enforced his fishing ban 24 hours a day. After nearly three years of constant vigilance, local fishermen began to notice a difference – fish population and sizes increased not only in the protected area but also in adjacent areas, a spill-over effect. Astonished fishermen, converted by their own observations, spread the news of Dakio’s success to their colleagues around the island.

On a larger scale, Dakio’s pioneering efforts have helped to build national support to move forward on a national system of parks and protected areas for the entire Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). In 2004, the FSM joined 188 other nations in ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity Program of Work on Protected Areas. Thanks to Dakio’s dedicated work, and that of other environmentalists like him, the community-led marine protected area movement in FSM offers hope for the future.

Sadly on March 18, 2008 Dakio passed away. His memory will continue to live on in efforts of so many people, such as the Marine Conservation Unit of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei.

MCT and MINA Learning Exchange

2008-03-04T15:03:00.005+11:00

Last month Angelo Villagomez, Executive Director of Mariana Islands Nature Alliance (MINA), participated in a Learning Exchange with Lisa and Mary Rose of the Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT) in Pohnpei. As part of the learning exchange, Angelo was to help Lisa and Mary Rose with the MCT website website. They already have a website and they justed wantedmeone to show them how to edit it and how to add documents.

The Micronesians in Island Conservation Network (MIC) make learning exchanges available to all its members. Once a year, all of the members are allowed to invite one of the other members to come to their island to teach them something.

In this case, Angelo was invited by MCT to share his knowledge of computers and the Internet. Working together Lisa and Mary Rose, he helped figure out which html editing program MCT had on their computers, found the html files containing the MCT website, and went over how to edit, create new pages, add pictures, and add files.

The MCT website can be found at:

http://www.mctconservation.org/index.htm

Chuuk Conservation Society Needs an Executive Director

2008-02-29T15:32:00.003+11:00

Chuuk Conservation Society

‘Protecting and preserving our natural resources
to sustain community livelihoods by working with
community partners’

Board Of Directors:
Chair: Christina Stinnett
Vice-Chairman: Joakim Peter
Treasurer: Martha Kanas
Members: Ismael Mikel, Julita Albert, Romio Osiena

29 February 2008

To: General Public

From: Chuuk Conservation Society (CCS)

Subject: Job Opening for Executive Director

The Chuuk Conservation Society is a chartered non-government organization dedicated to preserving and protecting Chuuk’s natural environment. The Executive Director will be responsible for setting goals, budgeting and building an integrated marine and terrestrial conservation program for the organization. The Executive Director will supervise all CCS staff, and work closely with the CCS Board and staff to ensure the development of a strong program. The Executive Director will be responsible for recruiting and leading a team of outstanding staff, assisting with fundraising efforts, undertaking financial and grants management oversight and resolving program administrative issues. The position will be based in Chuuk and will involve some travel in the immediate region and to the US for meetings and fundraising.

To Apply:
Submit a Cover Letter
A Detailed Resume
3 Letters of Reference

Submit To:
Chuuk Conservation Society (CCS)
P.O Box 222 Chuuk, FM 96942

Closing Date:
April 1, 2008 (Tuesday)

For more information, please call the office at 330 7227 or 930 4430.

10th MIC Retreat to be Held in Guam

2008-02-27T15:28:00.004+11:00

Every nine months the members of MIC get togther for a one week retreat. The retreats take place in different locations with 5 of Micronesian jurisdictions: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Common Wealth of the Nothern Marianas and the Terriotory of Guam.

MIC's main tool are the retreats. Leaders meet to review progress on their goals, share lesson learned and identify issues for collaboration at the local, national and regional levels. It also gives the members a chance to share organizational best practices.

The 10th MIC Retreat will be in Guam, from the 14th -17th of April 2008, at the Marriott Resort & Spa.

To obtain a copy of the agenda, please contact Mae Bruton Adams at madams@tnc.org

SEM-Pasifika Traning to be Held In RMI

2008-02-27T15:06:00.006+11:00

Socioeconomic Monitoring in the Pacific Region (SEM-Pasifika) Training
Program*

*Background: *SEM-Pasifika is a set of community-based socioeconomic monitoring guidelines developed specifically for the Pacific incorporates indicators used by the Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMA) Network, The Secretariat of the Pacific Community, and the Global Socioeconomic Monitoring Initiative (SocMon) into a user-friendly format. This training program will be held in three parts: a training workshop held in May 2008, on-site implementation, and follow-up technical assistance to be provided at the end of 2008. The program is facilitated through a partnership with Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) the Pacific Islands Marine Protected Areas Community (PIMPAC), the South Pacific Environment Programme (SPREP), the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). **

*Dates of training workshop:* May 5-9, 2008

*Location of training workshop:* Republic of the Marshall Islands

*Participants*- We have funding available for one representative from each of the following areas: Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, CNMI, Marshall Islands, Palau, Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, Pohnpei.

*We’re asking each jurisdiction to nominate one representative and to provide a completed application package for that person by Friday, March 14, 2008. The application form is attached. If you have any questions about the training program or the application process, please contact Christy Loper at christy.loper@noaa.gov <mailto:christy.loper@noaa.gov>. *

MIC Measures Meeting

2008-02-27T13:13:00.004+11:00

For a long time a few members of the MIC Steering Committee and I continued to ask ourselves “How is MIC doing?” There seemed to be a disconnect between the institutional goals that the MIC Members were creating and the overall goals of MIC and the MIC Measures.

In January 2008, Mary Rose Nakayama, Conservation Environment Protection Program Manager, Alissa Takesy, FSM Protected Areas Network Coordinator, Angelo Villagomez, Executive Director, Marianas Island Nature Alliance and I made our first attempt at creating a reporting format for the MIC Members that would link the Country/State Reports to the MIC Measures. (To keep this update short) although it was a great first attempt, the reporting format would have been shunned by members due to the amount of time it would take to complete.

Realizing that we needed a bit more help we asked a long time MIC Friend and creator, Audrey Newman, TNC Senior Advisor to the Asia Pacific Region, to come and give us a hand. Audrey being true to form, did not hesitate to come out to Pohnpei for a week to assist us with our measures. This is what we came up with:

1. Network effectiveness
2. Diversity
3. Leader Satisfaction
4. Cost-effectiveness
5. Organizational effectiveness
6. Effectively managed conservation sites
-effective conservation practices (via scorecard, CAP or equivalent)
-threat reduction
-biodiversity health

The top four (1-4) measures are to be monitored by the MIC Coordinator and the last 2 measures (5-6) by the MIC Members themselves. It is the intention of the MIC Steering Committee to have measures that would not add more work for the members, but rather complimented their work.

If you would like more detailed information on the measures, please email Mae Bruton Adams at madams@tnc.org.

TNC Human Resources Helps MCT

2008-02-27T10:49:00.002+11:00

Jan Eber, TNC Hawaii Program and Sharon Lewis, TNC Washington, came to Pohnpei to assit MCT with an organizational chart and with Human Resource Management Training. The training lasted two and a half days and were broken up into 12 modules.

Module One: Review of MCT structure -- in this module the participants reviewd the current structure of MCT and evalutaed the current structure and explored alternative models.

Module Two: Workforce Planning -- This module proved an overiew of the workforce planning model at TNC. Components of the workforce planning were explored and participants discussed and identified components for further development. Topics included:

-sourcing and staffing

- performance management

- professional development

- management and leadership

- succession planning

Module Three: Position reviews and job description -- Participants reviewd current positions within MCT and their alignment with the overall structure and mission of the organization. participants explored the components of job discriptions and created a template for MCT. A job analysis was conducted for each position and a job description created and evaluated.

Module Four: Compensation -- Current compensation structure and decsion making was reviwed and alternate methedologies were discussed. Definitions included: broad-banding, market based, grades and ranges, and benefits. Overview of TNC approach and discussion of internal equity and individual equity.

Module Five: Sourcing and staffing -- Reviewed current staffing strategies and onboarding. Explored best practices for recruiting and hiring staff.

Module Six: Performance Management -- Reveiwed how MCT currently handles performance management . Discussed the performance management lifesycle. Looked at evaluations and how these might be improved. Discussed methedologies and how perfromance links to pay. Acitivities included setting objectives, metrics, completing fair and accurate evaluations.

Module Seven: Employee development -- Define professional development, write professional development objectives and discuss ow this impacts retention and employee satisfaction.

Module Eight: Managning effectively -- General discussion and approaches for increasing employee satisfaction and engagement. How to handle difficult employee situations and create guidelines for termination.

Module Nine: Succession planning -- This module covered how succession planning worked, and might work within MCT. They identified critical skills the Trust should be looking for and develope for the years ahead. They reviewed different models and discussed how a succession plan can be developed and implemented at MCT.

Module Ten: Legal/Compliance issues -- Identified the local FSM laws that impact the Trust and plan how compliance and legal requirments are best reviewed and audited.

Module Eleven: Employee manual -- create an employee manual

Module Twelve: Operations -- Review general operations within MCT. Created a process flow chart as template to be used for other process evaluations.

2008-02-19T16:07:00.004+11:00

· Kosrae Governor Weilbacher
· Attorney General JD Lee
· Kosrae Island Resource Management Authority, Director, Simpson Abraham
· Kosrae Conservation & Safety Organization, Executive Director, Andy George
· USDA Forest Service, Katie Friday
· Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Integrated Forestry Expert, Eva Gonnermann
· YELA Executive Director, Tholman Alik
· TNC’s Bill Raynor, Sean Austin, Jeff Benz, Mae Adams, Ricky Carl, Fred Annand and Mike Conner

Together the partnership has created a road map of actions that we hope will result in both the establishment of 1) a conservation easement protecting Yela in perpetuity and 2) a new legal tool for conservation in the FSM. It is an ambitious goal but one that we feel can be attained based on the strength and commitment of the individuals that comprise the partnership. Stay tuned….!

TNC Micronesia Program and Kimbe Bay Participate in SEM-Pasifika Training

2007-12-17T14:08:00.000+11:00

Freda Paiva, Conservation Research Assistant, and Annisah Sapul, Community Conservation Specialist, from the TNC Kimbe Field Office and Mae Bruton Adams, MIC Coordinator, TNC Micronesia Program, spent 1 week in Galahi, attending the first SEM-Pasifika Training of the trainers workshop.

The objective of the workshop was to build the capacity of the participants as SEM-Pasifika trainers, to provide participants with methodologies and procedures on socioeconomic monitoring, based on the SEM-Pasifika; and finally to receive input on the SEM-Pasfika draft.

The workshop was a success in many ways. It not only provide the trainees with tools to successfully implement a socioeconomic monitoring projects and allowed the participants to provide feedback on the SEM-Pasifika, but it created a greater appreciation of socioeconomic monitoring and its importance in the improvement of site management. It also fostered an opportunity for the participants to learn from the participants and their areas of work. It created an atmosphere of learning for each of the participants as they shared their experiences in their areas of work, as well as provided an occasion to develop ties to foster networks amongst the different agencies. SEM-Pasifika training also provided an opening for future cross training activities between TNC staff in the Micronesia and Melanesia programs.

SEM-Pasifika Workshop

2007-12-17T11:36:00.000+11:00

After 2.5 yearsof discussion and collaboration, the Pacific region now has a draft se tof socio-economic monitoring guidelines that incorporates indicators used by the Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMA) Network, TheSecretariat of the Pacific Community, and the Global SocioeconomicMonitoring Initiative (SocMon) into a user-friendly format.

On October 29-November 2, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)and the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) co-organized a training on socio-economic monitoring in the Pacific region (SEM-Pasifika). The training workshop also served as a field test of the draft SEM-Pasifika guidelines.

The workshop was held in Galahi, Papua New Guinea, following a regional conference on conservation and the communities. Attendees hailed from Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Hawaii, Fiji, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Papua NewGuinea, Solomon Islands and Indonesia. Seven Paupa New Guinea local community members also joined the training from our field sites of Bwasitau, Sawasawaga and Sunaleilei villages.

The training itself went very well-- after a day and a half of learning background information in the classroom, the participants split intot hree groups and each group was turned loose on a local community. Each group actually undertook the seven steps of a socio-economic assessment starting with defining goals and objectives and ending with making recommendations for adaptive management. As an example, Sawasawaga village had recently implemented a no-take marine reserve in exchangefor construction of a new school. The group surveying in Sawasawaga decided to focus their survey questions on community expectations for and attitudes toward the new marine reserve. Villagers reported seeing increases in certain species such as sea cucumber within the reserve but also expressed some safety concerns-- the location of the marine reserve forces villagers to travel much further by boat, sometimes in poor weather conditions, in order to catch fish for consumption and income.

For the field test on the draft guidelines, the participants provided agreat deal of constructive criticism to streamline and improve the draft guidelines. This input will be incorporated in the coming months before finalization of the SEM-Pasifika guidelines.

(The pictures were taken by Michael Guilbeaux, CCN)

Chuuk Conservation Society

2007-08-22T14:24:00.000+11:00

The Chuuk Conservation Society (CCS) was registered as an environmental NGO in September of 2005. The establishment of the organization was made possible through the active support of concerned citizens who represented areas in academics, religion, conservation, traditions and culture, communities, and others.

The first major gathering of these concerned citizens took place in September 2004 at the Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC) retreat. Following, the Chuuk Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP), it stated that one of its objectives was ‘by the year 2006 an operational environmental NGO will be established’, and that the lead agency for this particular objective be the Chuuk Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The mission of CCS is to ‘preserve and protect Chuuk’s natural resources to sustain community livelihoods by working with community partners’. The organization aims to achieve this through the following objectives:
1. Protect the cultural and natural resources of our communities by establishing an initial framework for a state-wide protected/managed area network.
2. Build the effectiveness and accountability of CCS by providing the necessary tools and resources to carry out its mission.

CCS May be a new organization but it has already established good working relationships with numerous key partners who share the same vision for effective environmental conservation/protection. Its Board includes members from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), Chuuk Women Council (CWC), College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM), and other community-based organizations.

Through its membership in the Micronesia in Island Conservation (MIC) Network and Pacific Islands Marine Protected Areas Community (PIMPAC), CCS completed its first 2 year integrated strategic and financial plan; had its Board Training; and participated in the training on development of management plans. CCS is also furthering its conservation efforts with the PEW Fellowship.

There are a number of communities in Chuuk that have already started efforts to protect their marine areas. Two of these areas are the Parem Marine Areas and the Epinup Mangrove andMarine Areas, both of which are Areas of Biological Significance (ABS).

The Department of Marine Resources with the PPO community has made initial conservations efforts regarding the Polle Piannu Pass, which is a major grouper spawning area located on the vast Chuuk barrier reef. Another community-led marine area is situated at the Fefan UFO reefs, which is maintained as a conservation area although it is not listed as an ABS.

These are but a few examples of on-going community-led marine protected areas projects that are in affect here in Chuuk. These efforts are likewise complimented by traditional methods of conservation that our forefathers used and are still quite prevalent and very effective today. Such traditional practices of “pwau” and “mechen” are local methods that go hand in hand with the global environmental conservation movement and exemplify a vision for the old ways and the new to intertwine in unified, joint efforts to preserve, protect and maintain the pristine splendor of our islands and her natural beauty.

CCS is currently staffed by Curtis Graham, who is the Program Manager tasked with implementing and assisting with projects that the CCS organization is involved with. Curtis went to school at Xavier High School in Chuuk and later on Punahou High School in Hawaii. He graduated with a BA degree in 2005 from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and has since returned to Chuuk to live.

The Chuuk Conservation Society is a relatively young organization with high hopes for a future of service for the people of Chuuk. CCS hopes to do what it can to help preserve Chuuk’s natural island beauty through collaboration with the people as well as the numerous outside organizations that share a common desire to keep Chuuk a paradise haven of natural beauty and splendor.

Please feel free to contact them regarding any assistance or inquiries that you may have. They can be reached via phone at (691) 330-7227, email (curt_ccs@mail.fm) or simply stop by the office which is located across the Bank of FSM.

Majuro, RMI, Hosts 9th MIC Retreat

2007-08-13T15:29:00.001+11:00

On June 5th, 2007, the Micronesians in Island Conservation held their 9th MIC Retreat, inMajuro. The Retreat was from the 5th to the 8th of June.

The members of MIC were given a great opportunity to hear the stories of conservation work within the Marshall Islands. The MIC welcoming dinner was opened by a speech given by the Vice President of the Marhsall Island – Minister Whitten Phillipo.

Afterwards, members of MIC were given the opportunity to hear about 9 different conservation projects within the Marshall Islands. These stories were real testimonials of the resilience and perseverance of the people of the Marshall Island.

Members of MIC were given the opportunity to hear about conservation work taking place in the Honduras and Nicaragua and the Caribbean. Julio Carcamo, the Director TNC Honduras and Nicaragua program and Stacey Moultrie, the Senior Policy Advisor, Northern Caribbean Program, both attend the retreat.

Julio shared his experiences with conservation in countries with extreme poverty. Although Julio’s area of work was oceans away, the members of MIC could relate.

Stacey gave the group an update on the Caribbean Challenge and gave members of MIC some ideas that the MIC could not only apply to their areas of work, but also towards the Micronesia Challenge.

MIC also gained 4 new members, Angelo Villagomez, Executive Director of the Marianna Islands Nature Alliance (MINA), Saipan; Joseph Aitaro, Palau Protected Areas Network (PAN) Coordinator, Palau; Fabian Iyar, Executive Director, Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC), Palau and Romina King, NOAA Fellow, Guam. These four new members bring to the MIC a wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as a passion and commitment to work with others to find ways to sustain our natural heritage.

Collaborating for Strategic Action Planning

2007-08-13T14:02:00.000+11:00

People from a range of different sectors are affected by the damage caused by invasive species such as ants, rats and weeds, and multi-disciplinary coordination and collaboration is key to effective action to tackle them at the national or state level. “Effective action” also requires a plan, defining what the future will look like and giving a “road map” to show how to get there. Opportunities for collaboration and coordination of activities can be easily spotted in a multi-sector plan, allowing for better use of resources, both human and financial.

In November 2006 the Pohnpei invasive species team produced simple, realistic multi-agency action plans for priority invasive species that were seen as a model by other invasive species groups in the region. The activity was facilitated by Lucille Apis- Overhoff of the TNC, Pohnpei office, who offered to assist other countries in the sub-region to carry out the same activity. The offer was taken up by Kosrae State and the Marshall Islands, and recognizing the value of coordination, the MIC and Pacific Invasives Learning Network (PILN) coordinators came together with Lucille Apis Overhoff of the TNC to facilitate the workshops.

An invasive species strategic action planning workshop was held from 25 – 26 April 2007 in Kosrae state, hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Tofol. For Kosrae this is the first multi-agency workshop focused on invasive species to be held, and the formation of a Kosrae invasive species taskforce (KIST) along the model of the Pohnpei one seen as one of the most useful outputs of the workshop.

The newly established KIST identified 6 thematic areas of concern for invasive species management in Kosrae State: Funding, Public awareness, Commitment, Capacity building, Coordination, and Policy and Legislation. Longer-term strategic goals and objectives have been established for each thematic area. KIST identified three species of terrestrial plant for immediate priority action in the current and next financial years, Mikania micrantha mile-a-minute vine (Mah Tepat), Luceana sp. tree (Tangantangan) and Ischaemum sp. grass (Mah Sacnsrihk). Marine invasive species are recognised as important and flagged for future action.

The KIST Strategic Action Plan establishes goals, objectives, activities, collaborators, timeframe, funding sources and estimated costs for control of these three species. Work plans have been developed to address these terrestrial plants, linked to the KIST mission, and carry through to the end of 2008.

Following this, an invasive species strategic action planning workshop was held from 3 – 4 May 2007 in the Marshall Islands. As with Kosrae, the formation of a Marshall Islands invasive species taskforce (MIIST) was seen as one of the most useful outputs of the workshop.

The newly established MIIST identified four thematic areas of concern for invasive species management in the Republic of the Marshall Islands: Education, Public Awareness and Research, Funding and Resources, Prioritisation, Planning and Collaboration, and Legislation. Longer-term strategic goals and objectives have been established for each thematic area. MIIST identified three areas for immediate priority action in the current and next financial years: ants, a package of 10 terrestrial weeds, and marine threats, including ballast water. Insect pests and diseases to breadfruit, urban rats and feral pigeons are recognised as important and flagged for future action.

The MIIST Strategic Action Plan establishes goals, objectives, activities, collaborators, timeframe, funding sources and estimated costs for control of these three areas. Work plans have been developed to address these terrestrial plants, linked to the MIIST mission, and carry through to the end of 2008.

“If you fail to plan you plan to fail”
“If you are prepared you have already won half the battle”

MINA Hires Their First Executive Director

2007-07-18T14:05:00.001+11:00

Hafa Adai, I'm Angelo Villagomez and I am the new (and first!) Executive Director for the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance. Depending on who you ask, I am either a Chamorro born American or an American educated Chamorro. Both are true. Take your pick.

My Mom is an American from the East Coast and my Dad is a Chamorro from Saipan. Although I was born here, I left Saipan when I was 3 years old. I visited a few times over the years, but I can't say that I ever lived here until recently.

This is where I lived just a little over a year ago:

Don’t you just love Japan?

After 24 years living in the US, England, and Japan, I returned to Saipan last April to work on a coral reef outreach project with the Marianas Resource Conservation & Development Council. The goal of the year long project is to involve the local community, especially coral reef stakeholders, in the management of our coral reefs. I also help coordinate an environmental coalition of government, community groups, businesses, and individuals called Beautify CNMI! I am the Chairman of the Beautify CNMI! Restoration Committee. The Restoration Committee plants trees, cleans up litter and illegal dumpsites, and restores hiking trails, and natural, historical, and tourist sites.

I received my Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Richmond in 2000. College was so much fun that I went a second time. I received my second Bachelors in Environmental Policy from Rollins College in 2004. At Rollins College I was the 2004 Environmental Studies Student of the Year.

In my spare time I practice with the CNMI Men’s National Soccer Team, SCUBA dive, promote the We Love Saipan Network, and post to my blog, The Saipan Blog.

MIC Media Coordinator is the new Grant Writer for the FSM National Government

2007-03-25T17:04:00.000+11:00

MIC Media Coordinator Olivier Wortel is the new Grant Writer for the FSM National Government. In the letter sent to all four state Governors, FSM department/agency/office heads, to the various Ambassadors to the FSM stationed in Pohnpei, as well as the FSM Congress announcing the hiring, President Urusemal stated that it is time to "more actively pursue, organize, implement and monitor a cohesive program of external aid outside of Compact funds."

Discussing his new role, Olivier has stated: "I specifically include NGO's alongside the government in the potential collaborative process and participation in and access to the grant writing and international Aid Coordination Unit that I am a part of. I am certainly available and open to ideas from all of the MIC group in this capacity."

New MIC Coordinator

2007-03-15T16:46:00.000+11:00

The Micronesians in Island Conservation Network has a new Coordinator!
Mrs. Mae M. Bruton Adams brings to the position a wealth of experience from previous work at the Federated States of Micronesian (FSM) Mission to the United Nations, the Reich and Tang Unit Investment Trust in New York, and recently as the French Honorary Consul to the FSM for the last 4 years. Mae is a bright, energetic and enthusiastic Micronesian who was born in the US and raised in the FSM state of Chuuk. She currently lives in Pohnpei with her husband and four young children. She is a great addition to MIC and The Nature Conservancy Micronesia Team.
Susi Menazza Olmsted, MIC Coordinator for the last two years, will leave Micronesia in May for Eastern Europe to be closer to her family. She will continue working for TNC on project involving the Global Island Partnership.
Mae Adams holding her youngest child, daughter Ke'avae.

MIC supports rat eradication project in Pohnpei

2007-01-31T08:55:00.000+11:00

Located a few miles from Pohnpei, Ahnd Atoll is one of FSM’s Priority Action Areas and Pohnpei’s top marine area of biological significance. The atoll is home to 13 species of reptiles (including the hawksbill and green turtles), 25 bird species, 7 mammals, several species of land crabs, and hundreds of marine species, but its terrestrial biodiversity is threatened by two invasive rat species. The Conservation Society of Pohnpei (CSP) in partnership with Island Conservation (IC), and the Pacific Invasives Initiative (PII) has developed a plan to eradicate rats from Ahnd Atoll. From January 24 to February 26, 2007, CSP and IC will initiate the Ahnd Atoll eradication project by conducting a trial eradication on 5 small islands in Pohnpei to test and perfect rat eradication methods that will later be used for the Ahnd Atoll rat eradication. Conservationists from Kosrae, Yap, Guam, Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, and Tahiti will join the CSP-IC team to conduct the trial eradication.

The project’s unveiling ceremony took place in Pohnpei on January 24, 2007. The project is funded by a grant from the Australian Government’s Regional National Heritage Programme (RNHP), and is supported by several agencies and organizations, including the Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT), the Pacific Invasives Learning Network (PILN), Pohnpei Invasive Species Taskforce (PIST), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Micronesians in Island Conservation (MIC).

Trainings on Time Management and Presentation Skills for MIC member organizations

2007-01-23T10:41:00.000+11:00

In early January 2007, MIC members, their staff and some of their partners in Majuro, Pohnpei and Guam had the opportunity to attend MIC-sponsored trainings on Time Management and Presentation Skills. TNC Learning and Development Consultant Dana Inerfeld spent two weeks in Micronesia and kindly agree to make some changes in her itinerary to share her knowledge with local conservation organizations and agencies. Some 45 people attended the trainings, with the highest participation in Guam (25 people.)

15 MIC members participate in the Micronesia Challenge Action Planning Meeting

2006-12-16T09:34:00.000+11:00

Fifteen members of the MIC network participated in the Micronesia Challenge Meeting December 4-7 in Palau.

Twelve members were part of the country delegations:

Palau: Tiare Holm and Ada Eledui

Guam: Vangie Lujan and Jay Gutierrez

FSM: Charles Chieng and Vanessa Fread (Yap state); Joe Konno and Mary Rose Nakayama (Chuuk state); Patterson Shed and Ricky Carl (Pohnpei state); Madison Nena (Kosrae state)

Marshalls: Albon Ishdoa and Steve Why

Three members represented support agencies:

Willy Kostka (Micronesia Conservation Trust), Bill Raynor (The Nature Conservancy) and Margie Falanruw (US Forest Service)

In addition, several board members of MIC organizations -- including the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance (MINA) and the Marshall Islands Conservation Society (MICS) -- also attended as government representatives.

MEETING OUTCOMES

Recommendations to the Chief Executives of the Micronesia Challenge jurisdictions (prepared by participants of the POLICY TRACK):

- The establishment of a Steering Committee, comprised of a focal point from each of the jurisdictions and one representative of the Micronesia Challenge Support Team and including participation by a representative of the Micronesia Challenge endowment

- The recruitment of a regional coordinator and support staff in accordance with agreed terms of reference and a preliminary budget of up to USD200,000 per annum to be financed through contributions by each jurisdiction on an equal basis and fundraising from partners and hosted by Palau

- An annual report on progress to implement the Micronesia Challenge by the Chair of the Steering Committee to the Chief Executives

- The development of a regional fundraising strategy in coordination with national strategies for public and private funds to support the Challenge including joint action to maximize access to GEF funds through a high-level meeting

- The Micronesia Conservation Trust to house a single endowment in support of the Challenge and that further consultations will be held to finalize the process and procedures to the satisfaction of each of the jurisdictions and donors

- Each jurisdiction of the Micronesia Challenge to take the appropriate steps to institutionalize the Challenge, including engaging traditional and community leaders, support for a Regional Communication Specialist and the implementation of outreach and marketing strategies at regional, national and jurisdictional levels.

In the TECHNICAL TRACK, participants worked in breakout groups focusing on 4 areas: 30% marine resources, 20% terrestrial resources, effective conservation, and stakeholder education and outreach.

All five jurisdictions developed detailed TWO-YEAR WORK PLANS (FY07-08) with budgets and priority needs identified.

MIC sponsors participation of NGO representatives to the upcoming Micronesia Challenge Action Planning Meeting

2006-11-28T05:25:00.000+11:00

The upcoming Micronesia Challenge Action Planning Meeting in the Republic of Palau from December 4-7 will bring together for the first time representatives of the five jurisdictions signatories of the Challenge: Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, U.S. Territory of Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Due to the delegations’ limited funds for the event, several international organizations and agencies – including The Nature Conservancy, SPREP, NOAA and the US Department of Interior – have provided last-minute financial support.
MIC will contribute by sponsoring participation of five MIC members from the non-government sector: Patterson Shed (Executive Director, Conservation Society of Pohnpei), Madison Nena (Chairman, Kosrae Conservation & Safety Organization), Joe Konno (Chairman, Chuuk Conservation Society), Charles Chieng (Executive Director, Yap Community Action Program) and Steve Why (Executive Director, Marshall Islands Conservation Society.)

MIC provides Board Assessment and Development to CCS

2006-10-28T11:21:00.000+11:00

Board Members of the Chuuk Conservation Society (CCS) attended a Board Development Training and performed a self-assessment in September 2006 with the help of MIC coordinator. Chuuk was the last of the FSM states to establish a conservation NGO. CCS was created in September 2005 and is in the process to hire its first staff. Chairman of the Board Joe Konno and Secretary Mary Rose Nakayama are both MIC members.

CSP Environmental Educators mentor their colleagues in Palau and Kosrae

2006-10-04T03:10:00.000+11:00

Environmental Educators from the Conservation Society of Pohnpei (CSP) have been involved in two learning exchanges lately. Ben Namakin and Leinsom Neth shared their four-year experience in running the successful Green Road Show in Pohnpei with Education Officers of other two MIC member organization: the Palau Conservation Society (PCS) and the Kosrae Conservation & Safety Organization (KCSO). The Green Road Show is a comprehensive and entertaining environmental education program for Pohnpei’s fifth graders. Ben and Leinsom visit all the primary schools on the island six times throughout the school year, focusing each session on one of four environmental topics: 1) Upland Forest, 2) Mangroves, 3) Coral Reef, and 4) Waste and Pollution. Messages are delivered using a fun and hands-on approach, and a variety of educational resources. The pre and post test results show a drastic increase in the students’ knowledge of their island’s environment.
The success of the Green Road Show has inspired other Micronesian conservation organizations. In order to learn more about the Show and see CSP Environmental Educators in action, Education Officers Yalap Yalap (PCS) and Jason Jack (KCSO) visited Pohnpei in February and May respectively (see posts below) on two MIC-sponsored learning exchanges. Following the exchanges, both organizations started adapting the Show to the cultures and needs of Palau and Kosrae, while MIC sponsored two more exchanges. Ben Namakin went to Palau August 19-25 to assist PCS in the launch of the Ridge to Reef Road Show, while Leinsom Neth flew to Kosrae September 11-16 to assist KCSO’s environmental education unit and staff in launching the Nature Road Show and enhance KCSO’s capacity to implement the program in the schools.

Author and cultural preservationist Lino Olopai meets MIC members in Saipan

2006-09-27T07:09:00.000+11:00

During the MIC retreat, author, story-teller, cultural preservationist and MINA Board member, Lino Olopai showed a brief segment of a documentary film called, “Spirit of Voyage”, which highlighted the Pu’o Ceremony, the right of passage to become a traditional canoe voyager in the island of Satawal (between the FSM islands of Yap and Chuuk.) Olopai, a member of the Carolinian community of Saipan, also answered many questions and talked about his recently published book, “The Rope of Tradition”. The engaging, charismatic, and calm Olopai also took the time to sit down for a brief interview with Equator Magazine, a publication focusing on the unique environments and cultures of Micronesia, to appear within the premier issue before the end of the year.