Helen Reef Project News

February 14, 2003
From: "Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher" <nick@dominomail.unimas.my>
Subject: Helen Reef Project Progress Brief

Dear Friends:

Another short update on progress within the Helen Reef Project here in Palau.

The Helen Reef Resource Management Project, a joint effort between Hatohobei State
and the Community Conservation Network, is pleased to announce the addition of two new
Conservation Officers, Robinson Richard and Benedict Pedro. Officer Richard has been
with the Project for several months now, while Officer Pedro was recently sworn in by the
Governor of Hatohobei State, Mr. Sabino Sackarias on February 14, 2003. The Officers
now complement the existing team of four, and will rotate down to the Helen Reef complex
on a six-week basis in two teams of three.

Immediately afterwards, Palau's Bureau of Public Safety entered into a three-way
Memorandum of Understanding with the two Officers and with the Governor of Hatohobei
State which provides for cases in which the Conservation Officers might be called-upon,
or might need to enforce National Law, and clarifies the roles of the Officers, the State
Government and the Bureau of Public Safety. As the Project matures and builds on the
on-going efforts to strengthen the enforcement capacity of the State Conservation Officers,
the linkage with the Ministry of Justice is seen as a key requirement for effective enforcement.

On hand to witness the swearing-in of Officer Pedro, and to formalize the agreement with
the National and State Governments was Minister of Justice Michael J. Rosenthal, who
commended the Governor and the Community of Hatohobei State for their proactive
approach to the conservation of their natural resources. Under the new MoU, the Officers
will be empowered to uphold not only State Laws but also National Laws, when called
upon to do so by the Governor or the National Government, while otherwise carrying out
the regular duties as Conservation Officers. This is an important step in the Project's
efforts to uphold the law on Helen Reef, given its remote location from Palau's main
islands, where access to National law enforcement officers is not always possible,
and where the majority of violations are of a National level, with the illegal influx of
foreign fishing vessels.

We take this opportunity to congratulate them on their achievements, and to thank the
Community of Hatohobei, the Ministry of Justice and the Project's supporters for
providing the support and resources which have enabled the Project to reach this
important milestone.

Dr. Nicolas Pilcher
Email: nick@dominomail.unimas.my
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October 24, 2002
From: "Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher" <nick@dominomail.unimas.my>
Subject: Helen Reef Project Progress Brief

Dear Friends:

A quick note to keep you up to speed on the progress of the Helen Reef
Project here in Palau.

Between October 8th and 22nd the Hatohobei community completed their
first-ever independent reef monitoring exercise, carrying out over 330
surveys around Helen Reef to determine the relative population sizes for
commercially important fishes, invertebrates and turtles. Diving in teams
of five, three times each day, the team managed to revisit nearly all of
the monitoring stations established in 1998 and 2000, and comparisons with
the data accumulated in those years will yield important information on the
effectiveness of the three-year 'closed area' conservation designation.
This is the first time in history that the community have been able to
carry out their own monitoring, and it provided an overwhelming sense of
ownership to be able to accomplish the work independent of outside
assistance. This achievement came about in no minor way through the
generous support of the Project donors, and the exemplary dedication and
enthusiasm of the Hatohobei community. I take this opportunity to
congratulate the ten community members who were involved in the efforts.

The trip also had a representative of the Palau Conservation Society along
to understand first-hand the manner in which the community came together
for the monitoring, and it is probable that we will be invited to assist
with the first community-based monitoring in another of Palau's States in
the near future, given the success of this trip.

In addition, the trip also managed to seed another two thousand baby clams
following-on from the earlier seeding of 1000 clams in June 2002. We
envision seeding one or two thousand clams on each of the next ten trips.
The clams from the June trip are doing well, and many of them have tripled
in size. With full-time protection from having a Ranger Station on the
island, we are confident we can re-populate the reefs to their previous
condition.

Dr. Nicolas Pilcher
President, International Sea Turtle Society
The web site for the 23rd International Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and
Conservation is now open for pre-registration:

<http://www.seaturtle.org/symposium/>

Technical Advisor - Scientific Officer
Community Conservation Network
PO Box 1017, Koror
Republic of Palau, PW 96940
Phone / Fax: (680) 488-8730
Email: nick@dominomail.unimas.my
__________________________________

July 22, 2002
From: "Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher" <nick@dominomail.unimas.my>
Subject: Helen Reef Project Progress Brief

Dear Friends:

A double announcement this time on the progress of the Helen Reef Project here in Palau.

Last week we returned from Helen Reed after having seeded 1000 baby clams (Tridacna derasa) as part of our efforts at reseeding the clam populations and to set the scene for possible future trade. Our objectives are to transport about 4-5000 clams in each of the remaining trips this year, and possibly 25,000 a year over the next five years, after which they can be harvested for various markets, including the aquarium trade, the shell curio trade, and for their meat. This project was carried out in partnership with Palau's Mariculture Demonstration Center, where clams are spawned and reared ready for growout.

Secondly, I am pleased to announce the graduation of nine additional Tobian Scuba divers, including two women, who are begging to form the nucleus of the reef monitoring team. Since the completion of their course they have dived repetitively learning how to count the underwater resources, and three have taken on the duties of teaching others. They are now learning data entry and analysis in preparation for large-scale surveys on Helen itself.

I take this opportunity to congratulate our new divers, and to the whole team on getting the clams seeded on the reef.

Dr. Nicolas Pilcher

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May 8, 2002
From: "Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher" <nick@dominomail.unimas.my>
Subject: Progress Update #3 - Helen Reef Project

Dear Friends:

Another short update on progress within the Helen Reef Project here in Palau. As part of the on-going efforts to strengthen the enforcement capacity of the four State Conservation Officers, the Bureau of Public Safety (Palau's National Government law enforcement agency) yesterday entered into three-way Memoranda of Understanding with each officer and with the Governor of Hatohobei State, Mr. Sabino Sackarias. The MoU provides for cases in which the Conservation Officers might be called-upon, or might need to enforce National Law, and clarifies the roles of the Officers, the State Government and the Bureau of Public Safety.

Now, under the new MoU, the Officers will be empowered to uphold not only State Laws but also National Laws. This is an important step in the Project's efforts to uphold the law on Helen reef, given its remote location from Palau's main islands, where access to National law enforecement officers is not always possible.

We take this opportunity to congratulate them on their achievements, and to thank the Community of Hatohobei and the Project's supporters for providing all of the resources which have enabled them to reach this important milestone.
____________________________________
March 22, 2002
From: "Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher" <nick@dominomail.unimas.my>
Subject: Progress Update - Helen Reef Project

Dear Friends:

Just another short update on progress within the Helen Reef Project. In a culmination of several well-coordinated training programs and after six months of on-the-job experience, four of the project's staff were today appointed as Hatohobei State Law Enforcement Officers. The following are now Officers empowered to uphold the laws of Hatohobei State: William Andrew, Flave Andy, Paul Homar and Ken Tarkong. On hand to swear the four in was Sabino Sakarias, the Governor of Hatohobei State, and the ceremony was attended by the Vice President of Palau, H.E. Sandra Pierantozzi, the past President of the Republic Honourable Kuniwo Nakamura, the Deputy Chief of Public Safety Mr. Norbert Yano and the Chief of the Marine Law Enforcement Division Mr. Thomas Tutii. This marks an important milestone in the Project's efforts to build capacity in Law Enforcement, and signals a turning in the legal posistion with which these Officers will be able to act while carrying out the Project's Surveillance and Deterrence mission.

We take this opportunity to congratulate them on their achievements, and to thank the Community of Hatohobei and the Project's supporters for providing all of the resources which have enabled them to reach this important milestone.

Please note my new contact details:

Dr. Nicolas Pilcher
Community Conservation Network
Technical Advisor - Scientific Officer
PO Box 1017, Koror
Republic of Palau, PW 96940
Phone: (680) 488-8730
Fax: (680) 488-8730
Email: nick@dominomail.unimas.my
____________________________________

March 7, 2002
From: "Dr. Nicolas J. Pilcher" <nick@dominomail.unimas.my>
Subject: Progress Update - Helen Reef Project

Dear Friends:

In another major milestone in Hatohobei's efforts to develop and upgrade site surveillance/enforcement capacity on distant Helen Reef, four of the Hatohobei State Conservation Officers (in-training) [William, Flav, Paul, and Kenneth] today graduated from an intensive three-week course in Marine Enforcement which was held at the Palau Marine Enforcement Division with technical assistance of the Australian Royal Navy.

The Minister of Justice of Palau was on hand to present the Certificates Course Completion to the four, who are now much more knowledgeable in areas of marine surveillance, enforcement, boarding, vessel approach, evidence-gathering, and the legal process, among many other topics.

We are confident that, coupled with their training as Police Officers, they now possess better academic knowledge and technical skills which will enhance the State's capacity to monitor and enforce the new Helen Reef Conservation Act.

Our congratulations go out to them for their dedication to this part of their training, and we look forward to increased benefits from the State Project's efforts.
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Updated: September 3, 2020