PICRC Celebrates Earth Day with Educational Coral Restoration Activities

International Earth Day, marked on April 22, is an annual event dedicated to raising awareness about global environmental issues, such as the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, and calling the public to take action to protect our planet.

In Palau, the Earth Day Committee—a collaborative partnership primarily composed of government agencies and environmental NGOs, of which the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) is a member and served as Chair this year—organizes numerous activities each year in celebration of International Earth Day. The month of April, was declared National Earth Month in both 2025 and 2026 by President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr.

On April 22, PICRC, with the support of the Earth Day Committee, partnered with the Luuk Nature Center—a recently inaugurated facility at Palau Pacific Resort (PPR) dedicated to environmental awareness and conservation—to carry out a field activity involving 19 grade 6 and 8 students from Meyuns Elementary School. The initiative, which took place at PPR, engaged students in the preparation and installation of six reef stars—structures designed to hold coral fragments and be placed on the reef to support coral restoration—as well as the outplanting of 19 giant clams (duadeb) donated by PICRC. In addition, students conducted a transect survey to assess the presence of crown-of-thorns starfish, a common coral predator.

Also as part of the Earth Day celebrations, PICRC partnered with the Ngaraard State Government to conduct a second hands-on coral restoration activity on April 22, with 21 grade 5 to 8 students from Ngaraard Elementary School. In both events, students received an introduction to coral restoration and its different techniques, learned and practiced attaching coral fragments to reef stars, and snorkeled to help deploy the stars on the seafloor and observe the reef. The six reef stars installed at PPR and the three installed in Ngaraard will be incorporated into existing coral restoration sites in both locations.

PICRC extends its gratitude to PPR, the Ngaraard State Government, and members of the Earth Day Committee who supported the activity at PPR either in person or by providing materials, including the Environmental Quality Protection Board (EQPB), Friends of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary, and the Civic Action Team (CAT).

In addition to these organizations, the Earth Day Committee includes the Palau Conservation Society (PCS), Palau Pledge, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Environment (MAFE), the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Office of Climate Change (OCC), the Palau Visitors Authority (PVA), the Palau Community College Cooperative Research and Extension (PCC-CRE), and others.

The PICRC team celebrates the success of these activities and remains committed to developing initiatives that promote environmental awareness, invest in the community, and build capacity among youth and adults to actively participate in the protection of Palau’s natural environment.