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Crowdfunding Campaign: Stand with Palau
Palau is a small country with a huge idea: closing its waters to industrial fishing. No country has ever done it before. Palau would become the world’s first National Marine Sanctuary with one of the largest protected ocean areas on Earth.
Palau has been named National Geographic’s “Last Great Places on Earth.” Palau’s Rock Island Southern Lagoon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its’ archipelago spans hundreds of islands spread across the north-western Pacific ocean, and is home to:
- More than 1,300 species of fish
- 700 species of coral
- An estimated 130 species of rare sharks and stingrays
- The world’s only Jellyfish Lake, full of millions of stingless jellyfish
Palau’s pristine reefs support more coral fish and other invertebrates per square mile than anywhere else on Earth.
Its waters contain one of the largest portions of endemic species in the world, seven of the nine known giant clam species, the most marine lakes per mile of territory, the most isolated Dugong (Seacow) population, and some of the world’s most extensive seagrass beds.
Palau declared the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009. Today, 10 countries have followed Palau’s lead, creating 4.9 million square miles of shark sanctuary and other important protections. Palau showed that it was possible. Its small spark ignited massive global action.
The idea of a National Marine Sanctuary is even more powerful. If one regenerative zone can work, why not others? Why not a network of areas all over the world that protect the most important and vulnerable marine life?
Countries are considering these questions at the United Nations right now. What they need is an example that shows it can work.
The campaign’s goal is $100,000 and ends Sept. 21.
