ebiil channel

Ngarchelong State is the northernmost State on Babeldaob Island and home to some of Palau's most abundant and productive fishing grounds and most spectacular marine environments. The Northern Lagoon includes 197.4 km2 of reef, channels, lagoon, mangrove and open ocean out to 12 miles.  The Ngarchelong Marine Managed Area (NMMA) covers all of Ngarchelong's marine resources and is of vital economic, subsistence, social, cultural and ecological importance. Some areas have high fish production such as the Ebiil Channel, one of the most important grouper aggregation sites in Palau.  Some areas are resistant to climate change and others have critical species.  Many areas of the NMMA have high biodiversity and amazing underwater vistas, giving the NMMA a huge tourism potential.

Vision:

"We, the people of Ngarchelong envision a future where our local communities are strong, healthy, and live in balance with our natural surroundings. We seek to work towards maintaining an environment with abundant natural resources that will sustain our residents, our economy and visitors now and in the future. We wish to use our traditions, our knowledge, and the knowledge of others to better manage the terrestrial and marine resources of Ngarchelong State so that habitats are restored and maintained, species recover and flourish, and fisheries are productive. We also wish to integrate effective resource management (omengereomel) with sound fisheries management and tourism development so that our leaders can be supported to promote the best forms of sustainable livelihood of our people and State. As we are learning from ourselves and others, we are committed to successfully apply our efforts for the benefit of our community, the Republic of Palau, and the broader world community, and to share this approach, our models and our learning for the advancement of other communities in the Pacific who share similar resource management and community development goals."

Objective

Use traditional knowledge and modern science to improve and sufficeintly maintain the marine resources and habitats of Palau's Northern Lagoon to satisfy the subsistence food fish needs of the people of Ngarchelong, support a limited, small scale commercial fishery and non-extractive tourism activities, and become a model for sharing information and successful management.

Resources: Ngarchelong State Government. 2012 Ngarchelong Marine Managed Area Management Plan. Five year Management Plan 2012-2017