The Hatohobei Community’s Visit to Northern Waters:
An Exposure Tour to the Kayangel State’s Ngeruangel Conservation Area, Republic
of Palau.
Conducted
by the Hatohobei State Government
with
assistance by
the
Community Conservation Network
Trip
Report written by Marcus Hangaripaii
The
Community Conservation Network (CCN) sponsored a trip for the people of
Hatohobei (Tobi) to introduce them to a community marine management program
that has been established in Kayangel State, the northern most territory of the
Republic of Palau. Our trip was
intended to expose the Tobian community to marine conservation and management
programs in Palau by providing them the means to visit Kayangel’s Ngeruangel Conservation
Area () and speak with the local community about the decisions they made about
the area. By visiting , the CCN hoped
that the Tobian community would gain some understanding of other community
managed marine reserves and possibly generate some good ideas regarding
conservation management for their own reefs and marine resources. CCN is currently working with the Tobi
community in designing and planning a community driven conservation area for
Helen Reef, which is a very rich and remote atoll in Palau’s Southwest
waters.
Ngeruangel
Atoll became a conservation area in 1996 when Kayangel State passed a law that
designated it as a special reservation and use area. It was decided it would be closed for 3 years, then opened up for
sanctioned activities only as described by the State’s own management plan for
the area. That meant no fishing and no
entry to the area for the entire period.
After that, special uses in the area had to be permitted or allowed by
the State’s Ngeruangel Management Plan.
An enforcement team of local residents monitors activities at the site.
Introduction of the Hatohobei
Community to the Ngeruangel Conservation Area:
On
the morning of September 25, 1999 group of 25 community members from Tobi
boarded Atoll Way (the Tobi State ship) at Malakal Port in Koror for a trip to
visit Kayangel State’s Ngeruangel Conservation Area. The community members arrived at
approximately 2:00 pm. Mr.
Lerince and Mr. Ngiraked are two Conservation Officers from Kayangel met with
the ship upon arrival and a brief meeting with the Tobian community was
held. During the meeting, Governor
Crispin Emilio asked the conservation officers couple of questions that were
generated from the Tobian community.
The questions asked and as well as the answers are as follows:
GOV.
EMILIO: How many years since Ngeruangel
became and reservation area?
NGIRAKED: It has been 3 years since Ngeruangel Reef
became a reservation area.
GOV.
EMILIO: What motivated or made the
people of Kayangel to start thinking about control, management, or enforcement
at Ngeruangel?
NGIRAKED: It is when we (Kayangel community) saw
that people from all over the Republic of Palau are coming and going to
Ngeruangel without ever notifying Kayangel State (Kayangel community). They
(non-Kayangel people) destroyed so much of our resources.
LERINCE:
Also, tourists come and dive and disturb the marine environment almost everyday
and not a penny is given to our government (Kayangel) and the people. In addition, fishermen come and fish (bottom
fishing and spear fishing) that also depleted too much of our reef fish and
especially turtles.
NGIRAKED:
These are the damages that our government as well as the community saw that
prompted them to consider Ngeruangel reef a reservation area.
GOV.
EMILIO: Do you think that the community
is satisfied or happy with the results of their decision they made by making
Ngeruangel a reservation area?
NGIRAKED:
Yes, I believe that the community is very much satisfied with the outcome. And I say this because if we go to
Ngeruangel today and we will soon, you will witness that there is abundance of
marine resources now than three years ago.
I mean, we have lots of fish and turtles and they (green turtle) are now
returning to hatch on their nesting beach again. “I am very happy to see that we are gaining our resources
back.”
LERINCE:
“I think the community is happy with the out come that is why the State
government had me go through the police academy training this past summer so
that I can assist Mr. Ngiraked in enforcement and monitoring the site.”
Activities and Community
Observations:
Our visit includes a trip to
Ngeruangel beach (turtle hatching beach), a lagoon dive, and two dives at a
different spot outside the reef. First,
the community groups from Tobi visited the turtle nesting area. There were signs of about five turtle
hatchings. Included on the beach were
variety of sea birds and thousands of hermit crabs. Mr. Ngiraked told a local legend that the hermit crabs were
humans who lived on Ngeruangel many years ago and that they were turned into
hermit crabs when a man with his magic oar steered the water that caused
Ngeruangel to turn over.
Second, our community group had a
lagoon dive for about fifteen minutes where every diver swims to about 100 feet
away from the boat and back. After the
dive everyone shared what he or she saw within that 100 feet. Most divers reported having seen a lot of
different kind of fish, as well as big kamedukl (bumped parrot
fish). Some reported having seen fairly
big size clams and signs of rich corals.
Third, the community groups were
taken to the east side of Ngeruangel reef for further dive. Here, divers reported having seen a lot of um
(unicorn fish). Others reported having
seen three ngasech (hawksbill turtle).
I also had the greatest luck not only that I came close to one, I had
the opportunity to touch a ngasech on its back and the animal eased away
without a sign of being threatened by my presence. That was fulfilling. The corals and the reef look very alive.
Fourth and last dive, Governor
Emilio joined the community group and he reported having seen a green turtle
and a ngasech. In his words, “the turtles are not scared of us
humans.” Andrew also reported having
seen a big size green turtle and he to indicated that the creature didn’t feel
threaten by his presence. The rest of the divers reported having seen more big
fish and rich marine lives. Overall,
the community members expressed a very satisfactory visit in that there were a
lot of things they learned from our visit to .
After our dive the community
members invited the Kayangel conservation officers to a barbeque on the Atoll
Way. Our trip to Ngeruangel was
concluded with a visit to Kayangel Island as a courtesy of the Kayangel State
Governor, who facilitated our visit and local transportation at the site. The tour of the island lasted about two
hours; from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. The
community members returned to the ship at approximately 6:30 pm.
Further Discussion and Follow-up
with Community:
Later that evening I followed up
with more one on one talk with couple of the Tobi community members and the
state officials about their thoughts and ideas about or questions they may have in mind relating to Helen Reef after
the visit. These are the questions I
asked them:
1)
Would you consider Helen Reef as a conservation area? If so, why?
2)
What did you see from
that you liked the most?
3)
Do you think conservation management is good for the future
of Tobi community?
4)
What challenges do you think Tobi community has for making
Helen Reef a community managed conservation area?
When I asked the first question,
every community member agreed that the idea of having Helen Reef as a
conservation area is because it would mean restoring back its resources. Some community members also added that Helen
Reef has lost the abundance of marine resources it once has dating back to the
fifties, the sixties, the seventies, and even ten years ago. And like the people Kayangel, they know the
importance of Helen Reef for Tobi community and the future generation. They believe that Helen’s marine resources
can be saved and restored with a good conservation management program like in
Kayangel, provided that they [the community members] give it full support and
it does not prevent them from receiving, at least some, subsistence of economic
benefits.
When I asked the second question,
most of the people who dove at
expressed their feelings about seeing a lot of marine creatures such as
fish, sharks, turtles, as well as the beautiful corals they saw. As one diver states, “I remember back in
Helen (late 60’s) when I lived there, fish and turtle are crazy about
humans. They swim so close to you and I
was scared one time. That’s how much
marine life there was on Helen back then.”
Another diver explained that he liked the fact that people of Kayangel
State decided to protect Ngeruangel reef by saying, “now they [people of
Kayangel] have plenty fish and turtle to if they need them without having to
look anywhere else.” Everyone agreed
that Kayangel made a very wise decision for making Ngeruangel a conservation
area.
When I ask the third question, the
community members agreed that making Helen Reef a conservation area is not only
good for the present Tobian people, but definitely an idea one has to consider
for the future of Helen Reef, as well as the future generations of Tobi. As one community member puts it, “who
wouldn’t want Helen Reef ‘s resources to be restored back. A good example is . If Kayangel can do it, we [Tobians] can do
it too.” “Just look at all the
resources Kayangel has now as a result of closing Ngeruangel reef three years
ago. Now their future generations can
also enjoy the resources it has gained back.”
When I ask the fourth question,
majority of group agreed that “money” plays a big factor if one wants to
maintain Helen Reef as a conservation area.
As one community member states, “Don’t forget, Kayangel State is very
lucky because NCA is closer and so they don’t have to deal with foreign
fishermen, but local ones. Helen Reef
is about 390 miles south of Koror (mainland Palau) and so it would cost us
[Hatohobei State] more dollars to protect.
Where will we get the money for enforcement? hiring people to work and
stay at Helen Island? and how about regular trips to support these people?” one
person said. He also added, “yes,
conservation is great, but how can we maintain conservation for a long
time. We have tried so many times
before and each time we try it don’t last more than 4 years.”
Evaluation:
The community members of Hatohobei
returned to Koror the very next day with great ideas and some knowledge of
community conservation management program as well as many questions in
mind. However, the argument about funds
to support active protection seems to be a big of a problem that they have
struggled with for so long. For
example, there is not enough money from the Hatohobei State government to hire
law enforcement personnel and have them stay down at Helen Island to keep
illegal fishermen from depleting its marine resources. Another community member added, “if we
(State Government) have enough money every year we could increase our presence
in Helen Reef to make sure that no illegal fishing or any related activity of
that kind happens.”
It seems so obvious through our
conversation that people supported the idea of community management program,
but along with it comes this huge doubt and the question of how can we make
this happen? Also, the question of
subsistence use of any marine resource at Helen is in question when one thinks
of conservation. The community feared
that making Helen Reef a conservation area would mean stopping any type of
exploitation activity in Helen Reef.
I think, the community member’s
interpreted “conservation” to mean no access to Helen Reef once it’s declared a
conservation area. For example, one
member raised a related question, “what would happen if people stayed on Helen
Island and wants to fish for food?” Are
we [conservationist] going to penalized them for doing so?” This has to do with the fact that Tobi
community has a long history of using Helen Reef for subsistence activity. And today that believe is strongly embedded
in the Tobian mentality. They feel that
their access to Helen Reef as well as being able to continue their subsistence
activity shouldn’t be jeopardized.
Other community member seems to
have a problem linking conservation and economics together. Here the issue is more related to making
money. This is related to some of the
earlier issues where people don’t think that businesses [fishing] and other
economic activity can exist in Helen Reef if it ever becomes a conservation
area. The question of “money” becomes a
big concern. “How can the state
government generate revenue from Helen Reef?”, asked one community member. And so the question of “money”
continues.
It appears that majority of
Hatohobei community supports the idea of community conservation management
program at Helen Reef greatly, but the question of where will they get the
money to make things happen remains a challenge they are still very cognizant
of and in search of.
I personally thought that the trip
went very well, as I anticipated. That
is because I knew what to expect out of it.
But for some, it tuned out to be a disappointment because they expected
something different. For example, when
we visited the turtle nesting area not everyone was allowed on the beach. Some thought that everyone would stay
overnight on Kayangel Island, but stayed on the ship instead. And some were not prepared for an overnight
stay at all. Others were told to
prepare for spear fishing after the NCA visit, but didn’t happen. This misunderstandings could have
potentially been avoided with better communication and planning.
Our trip to NCA was educational,
but more importantlyit was the first time community members are seriously
thinking about 1) how valuable Helen Reef is to them as a community, and 2) how
what other people in Palau are doing might relate to them in terms of taking
control of and better managing their resources for sustainability. That is why I believe that a follow up trip
of the same kind with a more in depth discussion about conservation management planning
with the community. My recommendations
are as follows:
If these recommendations are
implemented and delivered to the community successfully, it would make the idea
of conservation a lot more meaningful and plausible to them. They may also
become more involved in the program.
Then maybe conservation would mean more benefits and better management
of resources in the long run for the future of Helen Reef and Hatohobei
community.
Trip Roster:
The Tobi community members who
travels aboard the Atoll Way from September 25 to September 26, 1999 to visit
Kayangel’s Ngeruangel Atoll Conservation Area are listed below as follows:
Hatohobei
Community members:
Hatohobei
State officials:
1. Obita Victor 19.
Crispin Emilio, Governor
2. Furmencino Samuel 20. Franco
Marcello, Legislator
3. Marcus Hangaripaii 21. Dominic
Emilio, Legislator
4. Rosania
Victor 22.
Lorenzo Simion, Legislator
5. Sabino
Sakarias 23.
Ananias Victor, Legislator
6. Severy
Tirso 24.
Francis Victor, Legislator
7. Nixson
Andrew 25.
Albino Fernando, Treasurer
8. Julie
Theodore
9. Jenny
Jonas
10. Susan
Sakarias
11. Andrew
T. Andrew
12. Regina
Andrew
13. Maria
O. Bismarck
14.
Justino Victor
15. Henry
Victor
16. Tekla
Emilio
17. Dexter
Emilio
18. Grace
Patris
On behalf of the Hatohobei
community, we would like to thank CCN, the New England Biolabs Foundation and
Michael Guilbeaux for arranging this educational trip. We would
also like to thank the people of Kayangel for making our visit to Ngeruangel
possible, enjoyable, and memorable.
Haparu mahatowahi,
Community Member