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My name is Toni Soalablai and here is PCS environmental update for this week of April 20 2012.
Let us talk about invasive plants and animals that can destroy our islands of Palau. Examples of invasive plants this is Albezia Falcataria, and rats and monkeys. The Albezia is a very tall tree that provides shade surrounding itself thus, depriving native plants and will die eventually. Rats and monkeys climb up trees and eat fruits before people can reach them. Farmers, flower growers, government employees including individuals should know facts and information about alien invasive species. The most dangerous practice is people are smuggling alien invasive species through airports. A National Invasive Species Committee (NISC) exists in Palau that helps with issues of invasive species. Members of the NISC are from the Bureau of Agriculture, Bureau of Marine Resources, EQPB, OERC, Division if Environmental Health, Quarantine Office, Attorney General’s Office, Customs Office, and the Palau Conservation Society. The NISC was created by a Presidential Executive Order No. 251 in 2008. The NISC supports RISC, the Regional Invasive Species Committee of the Micronesia Chief Executives. The RISC is the Micronesia region entity dealing issues with invasive alien species. Then, there is the Pacific Invasive Learning Network for the whole Pacific region. PILN is a collaboration of all Pacific islands tackling with an office in SPREP. SPREP stands for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme based in Samoa. PILN was first launched in Palau in 2006, with all island collaborators meeting every three years. In March 2012, PILN held its third regional meeting in Kirimati, Kiribati. Palau provided it’s country report in this meeting. Invasive alien species issues were discussed in this meeting including biosecurity, mainstreaming invasive species into all of the government, regional collaboration, invasive species within conversation area management plans, marine/aquatic invasive species, week risk assessment, team building coordination, fund and funding mechanism, monitoring and evaluation, cat and rat eradication, community and stakeholders’ involvement. Currently, PCS has assisted 9 states develop management plans for conservation areas. Invasive alien species and biosecurity issues are new word within states. Except for residents of Kayangel who has taken the initiative to practice boat check, as biosecurity measures within the dock of Kayangel island. The other states will include issues of alien invasive species and biosecurity within the management plans of their conservation areas later. Biosecurity will safeguard the biological diversity from species in small islands.
Thank you for watching this outreach from the Palau Conservation Society.