The program supports the sustainable development of Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) by implementing 30 targeted activities across diverse ecosystems in 11 countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. These efforts address critical challenges related to coastal and marine biodiversity, while promoting ecosystem-based strategies for climate change adaptation.

This initiative focuses on enhancing the capacity of the Protected Area Network (PAN) in project management, enforcement, and monitoring to improve resource management and build network resilience.

PAC-MAN has set up permanent mangrove plots around Palau to track how mangroves are responding to sea level rise using rod surface elevation tables and natural tracers (210Pb).

PIBLUEX is a Palau lead effort to map and monitor Blue Carbon Ecosystems at the national level in Pacific Island countries. The aerial extent and carbon stocks of mangroves and seagrass ecosystem, the two key Pacific Island BCEs, can be used in national communications, NDCs, SDGs, or as baseline information to pursue carbon markets. PIBLUEX currently consists of a Blue Carbon Dream Team comprised of Palauans, Fijans, and Samaoans, who worked together in April of 2024 to map Palau’s mangroves and seagrasses as well as quantify their carbon stocks.

A civic Program aiming to empower all levels of the community, most especially the youth, to make well-informed and sustainable policy decisions.

• Encourage youth participation and voice in the policy level by highlighting existing government structures and processes for the youth voice to engage in policy decision-making;
• Explore barriers to youth civic engagement by creating an enabling space to dialogue and work with the youth in their respective youth lens towards developing sustainable solutions to the social issues effecting their population, including adapting to their changing natural environment, civic rights & responsibilities, mental wellness surrounding youth social issues, etc.
• The Program provides technical support and practical information for the youth representatives to work with their community and CBOs towards raising public awareness and enhance understanding on social issues and norms that are affecting and detrimental to youth population

High above the ocean, painted onto the limestone cliff faces of Ulong Island, are a collection of images offering a glimpse inside the minds of Palauan’s who lived thousands of years ago.

Ulong’s finely tuned ecosystem is vulnerable to non-native, damaging invasive animals and plants that can upset the balance. Rare local forest birds such as the Palauan Megapode and the Palauan Ground Dove have been impacted, as well as snails, crabs and turtles.

In 2021, research began on a long-term project with the Koror State Government’s Department of Conservation and Law Enforcement (DCLE) not only to remove harmful invasive mammals, but also to promote biosecurity for the Rock Island Southern Lagoon World Heritage Site. This project aims to restore this region and its beautiful surrounding reefs, and in so doing to protect the natural heritage that makes the island so special and provide a template that can be used to make similar interventions on other Palauan islands in the future.

The Melekeok Conservation Network Board collaborates with government bodies such as the Bureau of Fisheries and NGOs like Rare to manage and protect the state’s seas sustainability.

They develop and update the Sustainable Fisheries and Extractive Industries Management plan that includes fisher’s registration, coastal monitoring and community capacity-building.

• The Koror State Government is leading a groundbreaking project aimed at establishing the world's first resource-circulating society on a national scale. Since 2004, significant progress has been made, with 70-80% of essential facilities already completed, including the Container Collection Facility, Pyrolysis Plant, Compost Manufacturing Facility, and the Belau Eco Glass Center.
• The next step is the implementation of an intermediate waste treatment facility, which will enable full operation towards a circular economy. This initiative is expected to cost between $6 and $7 million, but once operational, it is projected to generate $2 million in annual revenue. In the near future, the project is expected to contribute 10% to Palau’s GDP, with long-term impacts reaching up to 20%.
• Key components of the initiative include a Biogas Plan, Organic Farm, Plastic-to-Oil energy recovery, a beverage container deposit system, and ongoing work at the Belau Eco Glass Center. Together, these efforts are driving Koror State towards a sustainable, recycling-oriented society.