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Management plan of the Palolo Deep Marine Reserve in Apia, Samoa

Protected areas are areas of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection of biological diversity, natural and cultural resources, which are managed by government or nongovernmental agencies. Protected areas include, but are not limited to: National Parks, National Reserves, Game Reserves, Forest Reserves, Forest Parks, Marine Reserves, Marine Sanctuaries, and Nature Reserves.

The Fifth meeting of the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation was held at the Museum Hotel, Wellington, New Zealand from 7-10 November 2000, and hosted by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Meetings of the Capacity-Building, Roundtable, Sites, Conservation Trust Fund, and Conservation Area Networks Working Groups were held on Monday 6 November. The Pacific Islands Conference, Capacity-Building, and Polling Working Groups met on the morning of Tuesday 7. The Roundtable and Sites Working Groups also met on the afternoon of Friday 10 immediately following the main Roundtable meeting.

The conservation values and biodiversity of Pohnpei's forests are perhaps as important as their hydrological buffering function. A combination of strong traditional respect for the upland forest, heavy human depopulation during the last century, and relatively difficult access to inland areas have spared the upland forests of Pohnpci Island from much of the disturbance and destruction that has occurred in the island's lowlands and on other Micronesian islands. These factors, along with the relative age and isolation of the island make the flora of Pohnpei's upland forests some of the most diverse in Micronesia, with a high level of endemicity.