The damage continues...

On my last blog I had spoken about the things we notice yet don't really do something about them. I told of the Pacific International Incorporated (PII) pouring sewage into our waters. Just last week, while walking down the road from work I saw yet again the same thing happening near the Transco area. What is going on? Where are our leaders? and when will this continued damage finally cease?

I can still remember the first time I came to Chuuk. Getting ready to head to our islands, I would sit on our boat and watch the variety of fish and other life moving about in the water. Today, getting on a boat from this area of the water all I see when I take a look is murky waters without the existing life that used to be so ever present.

Looking at what was going on  last week, I wonder, are our leaders really going to let this onslaught to one of our main source of livelihood continue? It's taken PII more than three years since they've been here and still there is no real progress made to our roads, instead there's more and more damages going on, both on land and sea. So once again I ask, are we really going to let this continue? What are our leaders doing? An ocean where we once saw so many different species swimming about is now filled with mud, and has now turned from being blue and clear to brown and murky, where will we be getting fish to eat? A mountain where birds lived, a variety of different plant species existed, and also a popular hiking spot is now gone. The trees are gone, the birds have flown somewhere, and it is now a dangerous place to go because of landslides, what should we do about this? Let us stand together Chuuk! Let's now forget about what we want and concentrate on what we need in order to survive and to keep the generation to come safe and out of danger!


/s/ Kris in Chuuk

The End of a Champion and the Rise of a New One

In the time that I have been the Young Champions Intern for Yap State, I have learned so much from my supervisors, partners, as well as experts and community activists in conservation. I have met so many different people from their various respected fields and the knowledge and experience that they’ve shared with me is something that I will not forget. It has guided and shaped my personal views of the world around me and how I interact with it. The works that I have been involved with has built up my capacity and understanding in conservation. I feel confident in the steps I am to take; the career path that I am set upon because of the experience and knowledge this internship has afforded me.

Sharing group work during Community Action Plan workshop

It has been a great run as the Young Champions Intern for Yap State. The time has come for me to pass on the challenge to the next successor. I hope for another willing and passionate candidate to continue the stand in our home State of Yap – Take the Challenge! The Micronesia Challenge and make it our own. The Young Champions Internship is a great opportunity. The experience you take away from the internship is so valuable, from all the interactions with various groups, exposure to different thinking, and networking with others. I encourage all interested candidates to apply and help build for a brighter, healthier, sustainable happy future, for us and the many generations to come. With our brothers and sisters in Micronesia, let us stand and not falter as we fight for conservation in our region and sustainability of our natural resources. I hope that I have served the Yapese people well in my awareness campaign in Yap State. I have fought the good fight and I look to a new successor to take up the Challenge.

Shark Petition in Yap

Yap Games 2012 was a greatly anticipated event that took place at the Yap States Sports complex from June 17 to June 30. Some municipalities organized themselves and their youth to participate in the many sports activities and trained well before the anticipated date to get their athletes into shape for the event. This was the second year the Yap Games has been hosted. It was a great event that brought the youth and everyone together to enjoy the sports event and join together in camaraderie, cheering the athletes on to victory. 

To take advantage of the event, an MC awareness booth was setup to provide free water servings to the athletes as well as spectators and passersby. At the tent, information on natural resource management was shared and support for the Micronesia Regional Shark Sanctuary was solicited. Shark sanctuary petitions including informational pamphlets and fact sheets were circulated to the attending crowds at the games. This petition acknowledged each signing individual’s agreement of the importance of sharks in Marine ecosystems, recognized certain threats to the sharks, and agree that legislative actions should be taken to protect shark population within the FSM region. Thanks to the MC booth team the petitions were signed by a good amount of people as well as lots of positive feedback. The movement of “good resource management” through conservation is just beginning.

The things you notice...

Visiting the College of Micronesia (COM) - Chuuk Campus, I noticed something strange going on right outside the fence.

Not cool!

There was water pouring out one of the Pacific International Incorporated (PII) big hoses. Upon closer inspection I realized they were pouring sewage out into the ocean, as well as the land near the sea wall that runs along the near shore area of COM.

I couldn’t help but think about the damage this act was causing. Not only are they destroying what is left of the marine resources in that area, but the smell was something the students, as well as faculty, staffs and the people around that area had to inhale almost everyday. I wondered to myself whether our Department of Environmental Protection Agency was aware of this and whether they were doing something about it.

So not cool!

I know that for so long the people of Chuuk have had to face driving on a road that was in need of repair quite badly, but is this more important than the life of our environment? Is this worth losing so many of the things we’ve depended on for so many years? Why are we letting outsiders come in and do whatever they want to do with our environment? In the end, we will be the ones facing the consequences of the actions they are taking today. Not only will we suffer, but the future generation will too.

I think we should start doing something now before this gets out of hand. Not only do I see them pouring sewer out to the ocean, or wherever they want to, but they are slowly decimating our mountains. People living there are losing their homes because of this. We shouldn’t think only about the problems of today, but look towards the future and see how the actions of today will affect the people of tomorrow.


/s/ Kriz in Chuuk

3rd MC Marine Measures Group Workshop

Sharing our  outcomes.

The 3rd MC Marine Measures Group Workshop was held in Palau in February, 2012.  Among the topics discussed in the workshop were: MC jurisdictions came into agreement on MPA monitoring protocols; in unison on the services provided by the Database Management and the MPA Effectiveness Tools; and regional collaboration as an on going goal.


It was a great experience to be able to participate in the MC Marine Measures Workshop. I took a lot in from the trip and met a lot of inspiring people from the different jurisdictions. Getting to know some of them and the work they are involved in, in conservation, further inspired and stirred my soul.

Dr. Peter Houk, PMRI

Dr. Yimnang Golbuw, PICRC

Participants from all MC jurisdictions

 /s/jonathan

Groundwork for Shark Sanctuary in Chuuk

People tend to think that sharks are harmful predators that harm both aquatic life, as well as human beings who dare enter dark waters. How wrong they are! Today sharks are in danger from their most terrifying predators, us humans. Humans tend to forget that a shark only attacks a person when it is being provoked or senses that it is in danger, while we continuously fish them nonstop for profit or just for the heck of telling friends or others about a shark that one caught.

A White Tipped Shark here in Chuuk

Sharks have really slow growth and low reproductive rate, because of this their number is rapidly depleting. Today their population has really declined to the point where they are not able to fully perform their roles as top predators in the marine environment, causing possibly unchangeable damage to the marine environment.

Here in Chuuk, The Chuuk Conservation Society has started a petition on a Shark sanctuary. So far I've gotten more than hundreds of signatures from students, faculty and staff from the different schools in Chuuk who support the idea of having a shark sanctuary here. After collecting all the signatures, my boss, Mr. Wisney Nakayama, the director of CSS, presented it to a few of the government officials of Chuuk. The director met with Willy Kostka, the Director of the Micronesian Conservation Trust, on this matter. We are optimistic about how the idea is moving, because although it’s a bit slow the end results will be immense!

/s/ Kriz in Chuuk

Water Works in the Nimpal Channel

"Bravo" pickup...

It has been a busy start in the new year of 2012. Nimpal Channel MCA has gone into a lot of works with Water Quality monitoring with technical support provided by Dr. Peter Houk and Dr. Yimnang Golbuw, and the Yap State EPA. Conservation and the whole science aspect of it is a fairly new idea in Yap and to effectively conserve we must learn the science and methods and incorporate it with our traditional knowledge. When the Nimpal Channel MCA first sprouting as a no-take zone, new studies and science has brought to the attention of the community the need to further monitor not only the no-take zone, but also adjacent areas and other elements such as water quality, current flows, etc.

And so begins our Water works.

With the deploying of water quality sensors and surface current GPS trackers, more and more data has been gathered that helps give more understanding about the resource we protect and care for. In tracking the surface currents in the immediate area of the Nimpal Channel MCA, we can asses the total water shed area and how we can improve on managing land based activities. With the data gathered from the water quality sensors, we can get a better idea of what is in our waters that is natural and what is foreign and how these things affect these areas. These additional data helps support the decision making of the community. Knowing more of the factors that affect the community conservation areas and living spaces helps to better understand current impacts. This leads to better resource management, by flagging any potential future problems or challenges and addressing these directly to get the desired results, efficiently. The science confirms and supports the traditional knowledge of ridge-to-reef resource management as practiced for eons on our island.

"Charlie" tracking...

Pickup Run

Gotcha!!

Heading to Drop zones...

Preparing Sensors

Drop site Sensor #1

Deploying Sensors

The TEAM: (Left to Right - Thomas Gorong- Nimpal Project Manager; Tina Fillmed - Yap EPA Director; Junior Thinom and Foruw Aiven - The Crew

/s/jonathan

A Message to My PEERS

Yapese Students COM Founding Day

We the youths of Micronesia often say that our home islands are nothing but a dead end. That nothing ever happens and that our customs and traditions are a thing of the past. We crave technology, foreign ideals, and a new way of life; and so with that mentality a great deal of us youth often travel abroad to pursue a higher education and a better life, with a set decision never to come back. And some that stay behind often feel that they are missing out on something super fun happening out there... maybe... maybe not.

My first Dive

A GOOD CATCH

Typical Yap Sunset

Having been the Micronesia Challenge Young Champions Intern for Yap State and my current involvement with the Nimpal Channel MCA has given me a better understanding and exposed me to the different aspects of Conservation work, and the opportunities are practically unlimited for our island home. There is a whole bunch of work that needs to be done. Who is going to do it? We are, the youth of Micronesia. To reach our goals of the delicate balance of sustainability and conservation, it requires us the next generations to take an interest and pursue these challenges through our education and eventually our career paths; hence, taking everything to the next level of sustainable development that is good for our home islands. My point is not necessarily for everyone to pursue a career in conservation works, but too pursue "good" development in Micronesia as a whole. We have the potential to grow and be better than what we already are at a pace and scale that is appropriate and nurturing of our beautiful islands.

It was a perfect day for the folks from Chuuk Conservation Society and The Department of Marine Resources. The sun was shining and the ocean was smooth and calm. It was a good day to dive! The Coral Reef Monitoring program first started out in 2008 with training held by people from Palau International Coral Reef Center and The Pacific Marine Resources Institute. When the training ended, Coral Reef Monitoring started here in Chuuk. Today, it is still and ongoing project. The purpose of this project is for management and legislation, also for communities or resource owners who want to start a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The amazing part of these monitors is getting a first hand knowledge of the aquatic life and how they work with one another to survive the dangers of the changes that constantly appear. It takes a person to experience going underwater to really know the wonders of our very own ocean!

Watching this really made me think about what we can do for our islands. I know conservation is at a slow pace here, but they do say, "Slow and steady wins the race," right? Conservation is still so new to us, but with the progress we've had so far, things are looking pretty bright. Seeing this video made me realize that if they can do it, we can definitely do it too!



/s/ Kris