Palau is a small Pacific island nation with an outsized record in marine conservation. In 2015, President Tommy Remengesau Jr. signed the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Act, fully protecting about 80 percent of the country’s waters from fishing and mining. The sanctuary covers around 500,000 square kilometers, making it one of the largest protected ocean areas in the world.
Palau’s waters hold more than 1,300 species of fish and hundreds of coral species. The country also created the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009, building on a long tradition of local marine management.
For students of marine policy, Palau shows how a small nation can lead on ocean protection, and also how hard enforcement is across such a huge area. The remaining fifth of Palau’s waters is reserved for domestic fishing.
The original article’s grant figures and event dates were removed as unverifiable. Related reading: higher education in Palau, Pacific island leadership in Micronesia, coral reef management in the Maldives, and island biodiversity conservation in Mauritius.

