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Seacology will fund ecosystem watershed rehabilitation, purchase surveillance equipment and build a project operation center in exchange for the community's commitment to preserve a 46-acre no-take pristine mangrove sanctuary in perpetuity.
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The scenic and culturally pristine villages of Qokaaw and Kadaay are located in Weloy municipality on the West coast of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. These communities have already taken an active interest in conservation with the establishment of the 192-acre Nimpal Channel Marine Conservation Area (MCA). The communities are aware that conserving mangrove areas around the Nimpal Channel MCA is key to reducing run-off and providing habitat for juvenile fishes. With this in mind, they are proposing to preserve a 46-acre area of pristine mangrove, adjacent to the MCA. This particular forest survived Typhoon Sudal and contains at least four of the main five genera of mangroves in Yap. In exchange for setting aside the Qokaaw and Kadaay Mangrove Reserve in perpetuity, Seacology will fund rehabilitation of some areas of the watershed that have become choked with fallen logs and branches; improvement of surveillance of the Nimpal Channel and mangrove reserve areas, including repairs to an existing surveillance platform, construction of a new one and purchase of a kayak to support surveillance efforts in the reserves; and construction of a project operation and storage center on the shore adjacent to the two reserves. The villages of Qokaaw and Kadaay are steeped in tradition and this project is seen as having important cultural and social benefits for communities who have taken unilateral steps to protect their natural heritage.