The Palau National Marine Sanctuary: Protecting a nation’s entire marine territory to ensure sustainable development, enhance food security, boost tourism and enrich biodiversity conservation

Palau has a long history of managing its fisheries. For generation upon generation, the Traditional Chiefs placed vulnerable reef areas off limits to fishing, known as a “bul,” to protect both biodiversity and the livelihoods and food security of their people. In these modern times, it is broadly accepted that “marine capture fisheries have direct impacts not only on the target market species, most significantly tuna, but also can have large impacts on a number of incidentally caught species, some of which are particularly vulnerable to overexploitation and can directly degrade habitat and can have broad indirect or collateral effects on community structure and processes. 

Using this traditional method of conservation, Palau has created a "whole-domain" management approach from ridge to reef and beyond, the most ambitous component being the Palau National Marine Sanctuary. As Palau moves forward with the implementation of the PNMS, the Bul concept is kept in the forefront of all processes. 

The financing scheme for the Sanctuary is also novel.  Under the law creating the Sanctuary, all tourism visitors must pay a Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee (PPEF), which, will be used to ensure surveillance, enforcement and necessary administration of the PNMS.  A very strong effort is also underway to supplement this anticipated annual revenue of $1.5 million with contributions with country partners and friends.  Palau is in the process of raising such funds and in establishing a companion Sanctuary Endowment Fund into which the contributions will be placed.

Much of this additional funding will go towards establishing a comprehensive surveillance and monitoring program to enforce the law.  This enhanced surveillance effort has, as a critical component continued and expanded  trans boundary cooperation in the Micronesia region with neighbors and primary partners, the United States, Japan, Australia and the Republic of China, Taiwan. 

The success of the National Marine Sanctuary will largely depend upon the quality of its marine surveillance and enforcement. As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Palau lacks the resources to adequately patrol its waters.  Throughout the process of developing and implementing the PNMS, Palau has sought active partnerships with fellow nations, NGO’s and technology providers to develop and fund a comprehensive monitoring, control and surveillance strategy.  Palau now looks forward to numerous contributions to its surveillance and enforcement capacity in the coming months.