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This Strategic Plan outlines proposed activities of the Palau Conservation Society (PCS) over the next six years (2010?2015). PCS is a nongovernmental organization working in Palau, a land of diverse beauty and growing challenges. With a 15?year history, PCS is a premier environmental organization in Palau and the only one taking a full ecosystem approach to conservation at the community level. This 2010?2015 Plan builds on PCS’s 15?year history but focuses on new challenges.

Palau is blessed with a wealth of natural resources. We enjoy clean air, clean water, abundant marine life, and healthy, productive reefs. Our stunning Rock Islands and majestic dive sites continue to draw admiration from around the world. But Patau's wealth is not just found in its natural resources. Palau has also been blessed with a wealth of human resources and technical capabilities. The population of Palau is well educated and highly talented, and makes use of the most advanced computer and development techniques on a daily basis. Weaving these sources of natural and human wealth together is perhaps the most important resource of all: our traditions. Palauans maintain strong cultural ties to their land, their waters, and their history, and with these ties we strive to preserve and conserve all of our precious resources.

The Palau Conservation Society was contracted by The Nature Conservancy to conduct interviews with people knowledgeable about Palauan dugongs (Dugong dugon), known locally as mesekiu. The goal of the interviews was to obtain local knowledge about the habits, status and uses of dugongs in Palau. What comes through as a result of these interviews are some of the commonly held perceptions about dugongs in Palau, as well as some information about their preferred habitats and recent behaviors. The history of dugong hunting, uses and cultural value were also subjects of the interviews, enabling a comparison of some of the perceptions of changes that have occurred over time.

This report is the product of a consultative process that was initiated to share and discuss issues of sea turtle management in the Republic of Palau. The apparent decline of sea turtle populations in Palau has been a concern for many years. Several reviews conducted over the past decade make recommendations to improve Palau's turtle management regimes and to promote the recovery of locally existing turtle species. Recent consultations with various stakeholder groups were designed to explore these management issues and begin a process of information-sharing regarding the status of sea turtle populations in Palau. These results are hereby made available for the consideration of Palau's general public and decision makers.