Palau sharing national biodiversity efforts at international conference

Pacific Voyage Media Team

18 October Nagoya, Japan - Palau is joining the rest of the Pacific Island delegations in showing other nations how far it has gone in meeting its obligation to save the planet’s biodiversity.

Joe Aitaro, Protected Areas Network Coordinator, is part of the Palau delegation at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) in Nagoya Japan.  He will be joined by Palau’s Environment and Tourism Minister Harry Fritz.

Joe Aitaro (left) at Pacific briefing

“This is one convention the Pacific can really be proud of.   Biodiversity is very important to Palau’s cultural heritage and together with the other nations increased support will make it easier for Pacific nations to fulfil its obligations under the convention,” said Aitaro.

The other delegates to the conference from Palau will be part of the negotiations to address issues such as marine and coastal biodiversity, protected areas, sustainable use of biodiversity and climate change.

Bilung Gloria Salii will be making a presentation on importance of pelagic and migratory marine mammals to the people of Palau and the Pacific Communities sponsored by PEW.

Fabian Iyar, CEO of Palau International Coral Reef Center will be making a presentation on the experiences and best policies in Communication and Education and Public awareness on coral reef protection.

“Marine and coastal conservation and protection is very big for Palau,” said Aitaro.

Palau has one of the most diverse coral fauna to be found in all of Micronesia with reef fish and major groups of invertebrate animals are highly diverse in Palau.   The number of fish species has been estimated at between about 1300-1450.

The high marine biodiversity found in Palau is due to the fact that the islands contain all major coral reef types and an abundance of diverse marine habitats often associated with rich coral reef ecosystems, including extensive mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows.

The CBD COP 10 is held from 18 – 29 October and is hosted by Nagoya Japan.  There are 14 Pacific island countries attending – The Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji,  Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.