Blueprint of a Sanctuary

"Blueprint of a Sanctuary" is an AustralAsia magazine article by photojournalist Todd Essick. It reveals the behind the scenes activism targeting the Republic of Palau that defeated ecocidal legislation and promoted the creation of the world's first national shark sanctuary, an area of 237,000 sq. miles of the Pacific. My involvement is described in the second half of the article.

Creating the Palau Shark Sanctuary was a milestone in marine conservation: a global movement was ignited that followed Palau's lead. The Marshall Islands, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Maldives, Honduras, Venezuela, Brunei, Bahamas, Tokelau, French Polynesia, Raja Ampat, Samoa, Semporna, Northern Marianas, Guam and St. Maarten have also declared their waters as shark sanctuaries. These havens ban the capture of sharks in over 7 million sq. miles of ocean, an area larger than South America.

I echo the author's praise of Dermot Keane, my Palau colleague who first envisioned the sanctuary. Unmentioned in this article, Director Tom Bussanich (Division of Budget, Office of Insular Affairs), Mark Bezner (Charge d'Affaires, Palau) and Director Alcy Frelick (Office of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs) were instrumental in voicing environmental and fiscal concerns at bilateral hearings with Palau.

Lasting positive change takes more than 1-click petitions and PR fanfare. The essential catalyst is strategically building leverage. A pivotal event in this campaign was revealing Palau's breach of environmental and monetary obligations with the U.S. regarding the Compact of Free Association (COFA), a treaty wherein the U.S. provides defense, funding and services to Palau.