PICRC and TNC conduct joint meeting to strengthen their partnership

On July 5, 2024, PICRC research and aquarium staff met with the Palau-based staff of The Nature Conservancy, Micronesia and Polynesia at the Kedarm Conference Room in efforts to strengthen their partnership and support each other’s work. During the meeting, each staff from the two agencies gave an overview on the different projects and programs that they are working on.

Noah Idechong, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy, Micronesia and Polynesia, opened the meeting by emphasizing the important of regular exchanges between the two organizations. “These exchanges are critical in order for us to effectively support and complement each other as partners and as a result of our partnership, we can better meet the research and conservation need of our communities throughout Palau,” he stressed during his opening remarks.

PICRC and TNC signed a MOU in November 2023 to formalize their partnership.  Since then, they have collaborated on many different projects, including coral reef monitoring, seagrass and invertebrate surveys in the west coast of Babeldaob, climate-smart coral restoration, developing a coral restoration framework for Palau, and building PICRC’s capacity for coral restoration.

Caryn Lkong Koshiba, PICRC’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, closed the meeting by highlighting the achievements that both organizations have made as a result of their collaboration and support for each other.  She further congratulated the staff of both organizations for their hard work and dedication and encouraged continued efforts to strengthen the partnership of the two organizations.