PICRC Leads Community Meeting to Discuss Coral Restoration Sites in Ngarchelong and Ngaraard, Driving Climate Smart Reef Management

On Wednesday, August 7, the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) held a joint community meeting with Ngarchelong and Ngaraard state community members to get their ideas about coral restoration work in Palau and identify potential coral restoration sites in their states. This forms part of a broader collaborative project in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Micronesia and Polynesia and Newcastle University, focused on creating and testing a climate-smart adaptive management framework for coral reefs in Palau. This project aims to collaborate with diverse reef stakeholder groups and scientific advisors to drive community-led reef management. Many local reef users participated in the meeting on Wednesday, contributing their invaluable insights into Palau’s reef conditions.

Climate change is an existential threat to island nations across the Pacific and coral reefs worldwide. Rising sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events can threaten coral reefs. At the meeting, coral bleaching, typhoon disturbances, and human activities were all identified as reasons for reef degradation. This climate-smart adaptive management framework aims to build community resilience in Palau so that when climate change disturbances occur in the future, as they are projected to, local stakeholders will be able to draw from the experiences of this project to help the ecosystems bounce back. The framework will include practical ways to restore and manage coral reefs, as well as long-term monitoring and evaluation guidelines for selected coral restoration sites. 

The community meeting was well received, successfully identifying three potential coral restoration sites for both states. Subject to further investigation, these sites will be used to test and implement the coral reef management strategies outlined in the framework. In addition, the communities were able to provide what they feel are important considerations that we need to take into account when developing the restoration framework.  These community consultations will be used to guide the development of the framework. 

“The team is eager and determined to help develop a framework that will assist in safeguarding the future of Palau’s coral reefs amid climate change. The framework cannot be accomplished without the involvement of the local community, who have invaluable knowledge of the reefs, fundamental to the success of this project,” said the Director of Outreach Department Adeeshia I. Tellei.

This project is funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation as part of their Resilient Reefs Program, a program focused on partnering with front-line reef communities across the Pacific to respond to climate change and local threats.