Our Project

The Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) is a low-lying island consisting of 29 coral atolls and five low-lying islands, altogether comprise of 182 square kilometres of land, and more than 2 million square kilometres of its Exclusive Economic Zone. The low-lying islands represent the only potentially habitable land with a mean elevation of less than two meters above sea-level. RMI has some of the healthiest and robust coral reefs globally with high species diversity. Most atolls are dominated by agroforest, beach forest, and savanna.

As with other Pacific Island Countries, the Marshallese depends heavily on their environment for ecosystem goods and services. However, in recent years the environment ecosystem in RMI becomes increasingly threatened by pressures of fisheries, climate change, and loss of cultural traditions and social structures.

The country, over the years, have committed itself to the protection of its natural resources by partying to a number of regional and international commitments, namely the Micronesia Challenge and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Alignment to the Sustainable Development Goals:

The project contributes, most notably to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alignment with GEF Focal Area Strategy and Strategic Programme:

The project is funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is aligned to GEF 5 Biodiversity Results Framework Objectives 1: Improve Sustainability of Protected Area Systems”, and 2: Mainstream Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use into Production Landscapes, Seascapes and Sectors”) of the GEF 5 Biodiversity Results Framework. This will improve RMI’s ability to manage biodiversity, address threats to this biodiversity, and ensure success of protected area efforts more fully through an integrated atoll management approach based on the culture and way of working in RMI.

In the RMI, this is translated to the Reimaanlok: Than National Conservation Plan, a step-by-step process that guides the community to effectively manage their resources in an integrated and sustainable way, with the support of the Coastal Management Advisory Council.

Project objective

To sustain biodiversity and livelihoods by building community and ecosystem resilience to threats and degrading influences through integrated management of terrestrial and coastal resources in priority atolls or islands.

Project goal

To maintain globally significant biodiversity and the ecosystem goods and services that it provides to communities in RMI.

Reimaanlok Looking to the Future: National Conservation Area Plan for the Marshall Islands 2007-2012 (referred to as Reimaanlok) was developed to fill the need for conservation area planning framework, and "develop principles, process and guidelines for the design, establishment and management of conservation areas that are fully owned, led and endorsed by local communities based on their needs, values and cultural heritage."

This facilitator's guide is designed to be used in conjunction with Reimaanlok. It is strongly suggested that before embarking on this project one should have read the plan and be familiar with the Reimaanlok conservation planning process. This step-by-step guide includes management tools and examples that will help facilitators establish resource management plans and community-based conservation areas that consider current and future trends (including climate change), locally and globally, that affect the islands' resources and their sustainability.