On March 09, 2021, Palau International Coral Reef Center’s (PICRC) researcher, Victor Nestor, gave a presentation to Airai State legislature and Airai State Protected Areas Network (PAN) office on the status of Medal Ngediull Conservation Area.
The presentation is based on PICRC Technical report 21-03 titled “Assessment of Medal Ngediull Conservation Area in 2019”. The report provides survey results on reef fish populations, seagrass cover, coral cover and coral recruits within Medal Ngediull. Data from the surveys shows that the density of herbivorous fish in lagoon reefs in Medal Ngediull Conservation Area increased over time. On the other hand, some resources in the seagrass bed such as fish and invertebrates are on the decline. The protection measures that have been put up for Medal Ngediull Conservation Area appears to have little to no significant effect, especially on the seagrass bed. Throughout the discussion with the state legislators and state PAN staff, there seems to be a lot of concerns regarding terrestrial runoffs and sediment deposits within the area.
The meeting was very productive, as PICRC presents recommendations to Airai state, and in return, the state provides feedback with community level input while working towards improvement and better understanding of their MPA.
As Airai state continues to monitor their conservation area and develop management plans for their state resource, PICRC will continue to collaborate with Airai state by providing information from research and monitoring work.