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

Taking the Initiative...

Youth for Christ President,
Moses Nokar with brother.

The day started out early for a group of students from The College of Micronesia-Chuuk Campus. On the morning of November 4, 2011 they gathered outside the Bank of Guam-Chuuk branch in town to start the first COM-FSM Chuuk Campus trash-a-thon. The day was hot, but this did not deter the students from setting out to do the job.

It's not everyday you see a couple of young people gather and talk about doing something to help their island, but this is exactly what they did. They took the initiative in doing something that our leaders have not done. They noticed the build up of solid waste around Weno and thought of ways to at least lessen this problem. In doing this, they opened the eyes of the public to what is really needed to be done. They asked the Student Activity Coordinator, Ms. Lucille Sain and the Micronesia Challenge intern for their help. They did almost all the planning and decision making on where to start and where to end, and we came in with the trash bags, gloves, and support. The students started from down town and worked their way all the way up to their campus. After lunch, they once again got into groups of two and cleaned their campus, as well as areas outside of the campus. The day ended filled with laughter, fun, but at the same time exhaustion from the heat and a job well done!  /s/ Kriz

SBA Secretary, Renee Ezra with Lance Jacky
taking a short water break.

Jeff, Sports Manager picking something up
for his trash bag.

Camera break after a long walk.

The boys getting ready to head to the dump site
with filled trash bags.

Girls heading up from town after delivering trash
bags to the truck.