Final Report - s3.amazonaws.coms3.amazonaws.com/rarect_prod/rareplanet.org/files/Mar… · Web viewRare Pride Campaign. Chuuk. Federated States of Micronesia. The Campaign’s Flagship

Final ReportRare Pride Campaign

ChuukFederated States of Micronesia

The Campaign’s Flagship Species: Chuuk Monarch, locally known as the Uwaw.

Mary Rose NakayamaCollege of Micronesia, Chuuk Campus

2003-2004Rare Diploma in Conservation Education

University of Kent at Canterbury, United Kingdom Kent Cohort II

Contents

Site Background.......................................................................................................................4Introduction............................................................................................................................. 4People.................................................................................................................................... 5Government............................................................................................................................ 5Economy and Land................................................................................................................6Traditional Conservation.........................................................................................................6Management Issues...............................................................................................................6Geography and Climate..........................................................................................................7Socio-economic Considerations.............................................................................................8Environmental considerations................................................................................................8Management considerations..................................................................................................9Tourism................................................................................................................................ 10

Stakeholder Concept Model..................................................................................................11Concept Model Narrative Summary......................................................................................12Considerations of Concept Model as a Result of Questionnaire Survey..............................13

Review of Environmental Legislation in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia............14Introduction........................................................................................................................... 14Summary of Environmental Legislation................................................................................15Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 19

The Flagship Species.............................................................................................................20Introduction........................................................................................................................... 20Biological Considerations.....................................................................................................20Cultural Considerations........................................................................................................23Ethical and Aesthetic Justifications.......................................................................................24Other Flagship Species Considered.....................................................................................24Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 25

Population Study of the Chuuk Monarch.............................................................................26Abstract................................................................................................................................ 26Introduction........................................................................................................................... 26Behaviour............................................................................................................................. 26Habitats................................................................................................................................ 27Distribution........................................................................................................................... 27Population Study Site...........................................................................................................28Population Study Method.....................................................................................................28Results................................................................................................................................. 29Discussion............................................................................................................................ 30

Method..............................................................................................................................................30Limitations.........................................................................................................................................30

Evaluation of the School Visit Program................................................................................32Introduction........................................................................................................................... 32The Target Audience............................................................................................................35Key Conservation Messages................................................................................................37Logistic Preparation..............................................................................................................38Puppet Show........................................................................................................................ 39Costume Activities................................................................................................................41Key Messages...................................................................................................................... 43The Approach....................................................................................................................... 43Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 44

Photos of Conservation Education Activities......................................................................45The Results............................................................................................................................. 49

Changes in Knowledge, Perceptions, Attitudes....................................................................50Additional Signs of Success.............................................................................................................63

Mary Rose Nakayama, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia 2

Action Oriented/ Behaviour Change Objectives...................................................................64Recommendations................................................................................................................. 69

Environmental Law...............................................................................................................69Selection of Species.............................................................................................................69Field Survey Work................................................................................................................69

References.............................................................................................................................. 71Acknowledgements................................................................................................................74Appendices............................................................................................................................. 75

Appendix 1 - The Puppet Show Script..................................................................................75Appendix 2 - The Questionnaire Survey...............................................................................77

Contacts.................................................................................................................................. 81


Site Background

IntroductionThe study site for this particular 2003 conservation education campaign is Weno Island, also known as Moen, in Chuuk State (formerly known as Truk). Chuuk is located at the geographical centre of the cultural region known as Micronesia and politically forms part of the Federated States of Micronesia (Merlin and Juvik, 1996; Chuuk Visitors Bureau, 1998).

Figure 1: Map of the Micronesian region, including the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). (Source: Engbring et al, 1990)

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is scattered across the North Pacific Ocean, and is located east of the Philippines and north of Papua New Guinea. The FSM is the largest and most diverse part of the greater Micronesian region, comprising of four island states, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei (the capital island) and Kosrae (FSM NBSAP, 2002). The FSM is a young nation that has been under the administration of the Spanish, the Germans, and the Japanese, then under the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) (FSM Census Report, 2000). In 1979, the FSM elected its first president, then entered into a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1986, and became a full member of the United Nations in 1991.

The country’s economy is primarily based on tourism and fisheries (FSM Census Report, 2000). In an effort to protect its natural resources from over-exploitation, the FSM has become a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention of the Law of the Seas, to name but a few (FSM NBSAP, 2002). Local NGO’s have also worked together to build the Micronesian Conservation Trust (MCT), which will be a source of sustained funding for biodiversity conservation and related sustainable development for the future of the FSM people. Chuuk State has a land area of 127 km2 and a very high population density of 244 km2, the highest within the FSM (FSM Census, 2000). The state is made up of five major island groups


consisting of Nomunweito, Halls, Pattiw, Mortlocks, and Chuuk Lagoon, which is the largest island group with 14 islands of volcanic origin (Merlin and Juvik, 1996).

Chuuk Lagoon consists of the Northern Namoneas region (Weno, Piis-Paneu, and Fonoton), the Southern Namoneas region (Tonoas, Fefen, Uman, Tsis, and Parem) and the Faichuk Islands1

(Department of Marine Resources, 2000). It is one of the world’s largest lagoons with an area of 3130 km2, and the deepest at 60 m2. During War World II this particular lagoon provided an excellent anchorage for the Japanese naval base, and many of the ships that sank during that time are now scuba diver attraction, hence contributing to the island economy (Engbring et al, 1990).

Figure 2: Map of Chuuk Lagoon and its high volcanic islands.

PeopleThe people of Chuuk are Micronesians with their own language (Chuukese), customs and culture (Chuuk Visitors Bureau, 1998). The native people fish, raise pigs, poultry, taro, breadfruit, yams and banana (Chuuk Islands, 2000). They have a social structure made up of clans or einang and the head of this einang is the oldest male in the extended family. The meinap or leader of the clan has the role of calling family meetings as well as representing the whole extended family in important island gatherings. Usually, during election periods the meinap dictates to the family members whom to vote for hence emphasising the extent of power he has over decisions of the extended family.Government1 Udot, Romanum, Fanapanges, Onei, Pata, Polle, and Tol


The government of Chuuk is based on the American system of democracy and has its own constitution and government, headed by a governor (Fairbarn et al., 1991). Each of the 40 island groups has their own municipality, which is headed by a mayor who is the government representative of the traditional leaders or soupun. Also, a senatorial region and representative district are the two categories in which Chuuk is politically divided according to geographical makeup (The Kaselehlie Press, 2003).

Economy and LandThe economy of Chuuk, like the rest of the FSM, is based on tourism and fisheries. Most of the people are working for the government while a small percentage is working in the private sector.

Land or fonu is a very valuable asset for the Chuukese people (Department of Marine Resources, 2000). Not only does land determine one’s wealth but also one’s identity and historical background. The land and sea are considered one whole system and are traditionally owned by individual clans (Alkire, 1977; Oliver, 1989; Fairbarn et al., 1991). The inheritance of land is based on a matrilineal system, which means that the land is passed down through the mother’s lineage, from mother to daughter. Article IV of the Chuuk Constitution clearly states that when the children of the landowner inherit the land, they form a land-owning group where the oldest male, the mwaaniichi, manages the land for the group. Today, this system of inheritance has been disrupted simply because land can now be bought for a thousand dollars or so, and sometimes with no regard to the matrilineal system.

Traditional ConservationThe most used form of resource conservation is the mechen. This takes place during the death of a traditional owner of a certain land or sea area in which access to these areas is closed off to the public (Alkire, 1977; Oliver, 1989). There have been instances in the past where trespassers have either been executed or required to give a formal traditional apology, which involves the giving of pigs, taro, weaved mattresses, coconut and breadfruit. Today, compensation for trespassing is in the form of money giving.

Management IssuesChuuk is high in endemics (plants or animals found nowhere else) and has the most endangered forests in the FSM but most of its forests are used for agricultural crops, mainly breadfruit and coconut, and near homes taro, cassava, bananas and other food crops are planted (Engbring et al., 1990). Mangroves are cut down for use as timber and firewood, and recently to sell in the local markets. In addition to these environmental issues, about 37 percent of introduced plants have been reported from Chuuk (FSM NBSAP, 2002). At present there is no complete coastal resource management plan for the state of Chuuk (Enbring et al, 1990; FSM NBSAP, 2002).

After the WWII in 1945 the population on Chuuk expanded rapidly because of increased availability of health care, external aid, and better technology to cope with natural hazards, such as typhoons (Merlin and Juvik, 1996). Interestingly the population of Chuuk Lagoon has expanded more rapidly than that of the outer islands due to significant migration to the administrative centre of Weno Island (Merlin and Juvik, 1996).


Geography and ClimateWeno, also known as Moen, is located at the northern side of the Chuuk Lagoon. Its geology is ‘active volcano’, is wet tropical and has an annual rainfall measured at about 3, 650 mm 2. The temperature is about 27 degrees Celsius, relative humidity at about 82 %, and the mean wind speed is about 14 km/hr.

Weno has a land area of 18 km2 and is the home of one third of Chuuk’s population of 53,595 (Galbraith et al, 2000). It is the state administrative centre, hence the central locus of sea communications, legislative seats; hospital, commerce, urbanization, schools, commercial dock, and international airport (Chuuk Visitor’s Bureau, 1998). There is only one international terminal, one hospital, about 5 major shopping centres, 8 high schools, 9 elementary schools, 8 pre-schools and one or two churches in each of the villages. The island consists of 11 separate villages3, and its highest mountain called Mt. Tonoken has a maximum elevation of 370 m.

Figure 3:

Weno Island: The Project Site.

22See http://www.world-of-islands.com for more information.33The villages include Sapuk, Penia, Peniesene, Tunnuk, Mechitiw, Nepukos, Mwan, Neauo, Wichap, and Epinup.


http://www.world-of-islands.com/

Socio-economic Considerations People, from all the other nearby islands, travel to and from Weno by boat and those from the outer islands by ship. Those not from Weno have bought land and build homes, rented apartments to live in or simply live with relatives who have homes on the main island. One section of Iras Village called Seletiw is the home of those from the different islands in Chuuk, ranging from the outer-islands of Morlocks to the Lagoon islands of Faichuk, Fefan, Uman and Tonoas.

According to the 1994 Chuuk census: Household size 2,051 (3.4 percent among 40 municipalities); Most households (285) contain 12 or more persons, least with 3 persons and down; Household income: median (5,322), mean (9,672); 3,841 women aged 15 to 49 years had 9,431 children in 1994. Only 8,803 remained alive,

meaning that 628 of these children died; Among the 14 religions on Weno, Catholicism (7,421) accounted for the majority followed

by Congregational (5,460).

Environmental ConsiderationsThe only remaining native forest patch found on Weno are found up on the mountains such as Mt. Tonoken and Mt. Witipon. Extensive mangrove areas extending from Sapuk down to Peidiu and Nukanap have been identified as areas of high biodiversity and in need of protection. Birds found on Weno according to Engbring et al (1990) include white-tailed tropicbird, yellow bittern, pacific night heron, red junglefowl, white browed rail, brown noddy, black noddy, white tern, caroline islands ground dove, purple capped fruit dove, island swiftlet, nightingale reed warbler, chuuk monarch, oceanic flycatcher, Micronesian starling, cardinal honeyeater, bridled white eye and the blue faced parrofinch. Of all these birds, the Chuuk Monarch and the Oceanic Flycatcher are endemic to Chuuk State.

The following map shows the types of vegetation found on Weno Island. It shows that there are still a few extensive forest areas up on the mountains. More interestingly, is the mangrove areas (in orange) where it has been identified as an area to protect.


Figure 4: Map of Weno showing vegetation.

Management ConsiderationsLike all other Pacific Island Countries (Zann, 1994) Weno has a very rapid population growth and particularly limited natural resources (Dahl, 1995). Unfortunately, its limited coastal land area has been developed without adequate attention to either appropriateness or location or related issues thereby its native vegetation has been greatly modified and destroyed by the dense population (Division of Lands, 1981; Falanruw et al, 1987; Chuuk Islands, 2000).

As mentioned previously, Weno is the centre of Chuuk hence the place where people gather together on a daily basis either for school, work or recreation. The island’s sewerage system may not be able to accommodate this daily influx of people on top of those already living there. Many of the other island residents travel to and from Weno by boats every day (Chuuk Visitors’ Bureau, 1998) and there is that possibility that oil spills and other wastes dumped from their boats have added to the stress already placed on the environment.

There have been recent increases in the number of dredging activities around the coasts of Weno prompted as a way to increase the already limited land area (Department of Marine Resources, 2000). Extractive activities around the island include soil mining, rock mining, sand mining, as well as cutting down mangroves and forest trees. Rock crushing operations and commercial sand mining has increased to cater for the need for coral fingers, sand, and gravel for the construction of the road and other domestic uses. The cutting of forest trees is a result of the need for firewood and clearing for farming. Mangroves are the best source of timber for firewood, local houses, and carving. These types of exploiting the environment have been increased since the economy moved from subsistence to cash economy (Fairbarn, 1991; Goldman, 1994; Smith, 1996; Morrison, 1999).


TourismA draft Tourism Plan prepared by Professor Howard Rice from the College of Micronesia-FSM summarizes three areas that act as barriers to the development of the tourism sector (Rice, 2002). These include the existing infrastructure, lack of product diversity, and the level of commitment of both the state and national governments towards the sector.

The plan states that the lack of tourism areas plus potholed roads, buildings in need of repair, lack of waste management facilities, and electricity that runs only from 6 a.m. to 12 midnight every single day are of no help to the tourism industry. It is a fact that most tourists who come to the islands are here for wreck diving.

There are no developed alternative activities to wreck diving, and this poses a dilemma as some experts have stated that the wrecks are safe to dive for only another 20 to 30 years before it becomes dangerous. Lastly, the efforts of the national and state governments have been inadequate. Though the private sector has contributed to tourism through the establishment of hotels, diving shops, and tours, the report states that the government needs to be more involved especially in regards to funding tourism development and marketing strategies. The major impediment to developing the tourism sector is basically the land tenure situation. Take the Japanese Lighthouse in Sapuk, for instance. To get to the building, one must deal with more than 2 landowners in order to gain approval to visit the site. There must be an agreement put in place between landowners and those involved with the tourist industry since most land and adjacent marine reefs are owned by the local people.


Initial Concept Model

Key contributing factor indirect factor direct factor target condition

Need for cash

Lack of zoning law

Development

Complex Land ownership

Lack of adequate waste management plan

Lack of law enforcement

Littering

Soil & Rock Mining

Landfill activities

The Coastal Flora and Fauna of Weno Island

Environmentally unfriendly Attitude

Constructionn

High Unemployment

Over- population

Lack of family planning

Cultural values

Immigration

Environmentally unfriendly Farming

Gradual Change from subsistence to cash economy

Lack of environmental awareness

Inadequate government policies

Poor Land Management and legislation

Poor economy

Erosion & siltation

Deforestation

Fire

Figure 5: Stakeholder Concept Model.

Mary Rose Nakayama, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia

Pollution

Stakeholders’ Concept Model – Weno Island

11

Concept Model Narrative SummaryWeno Island, which is the capital island of Chuuk state, has a population of about 16,000 people. With one third of the Chuuk population of 53,595 (as of 2000) residing on Weno’s 18 km2 land area, increasing population is an environmental issue that needs to be addressed. The increase in population on Weno comes about from two main factors. One is the migration of people from the neighbouring islands to Weno for school and work, as well as other countries such as the Philippines and the United States. The 1999 FSM Statistical Yearbook showed that in the year 1998 about 11, 897 non-chuukese citizens were on Weno at that time, and about 338 came for employment. Even though statistics state that the population residing on Weno is about 16,000, it obviously would be more considering the number of near-island people who travel to and from this island on boats everyday.

The second factor that contributes to this population increase is the lack of family planning for the local people as it is not an integral part of the culture. Furthermore, the society encourages lots of children so there are those who will care for the land and especially care for you in your old age.

This increasing number in population combined with the poor economy of the island leads to a high rate of unemployment. The 2000 Census showed a 34 percent unemployment rate for the state of Chuuk. Because Weno has gradually moved from a subsistence economy to that of cash in a timeframe starting from the German administration in the early and late 1900’s to today, this high rate of unemployment has lead to an increased need for cash, which leads on to the need for development and construction.

The target condition for this particular Pride project is ‘The Coastal Flora and Fauna of Weno Island’, of which 5 direct threats were identified during the first stakeholders meeting. These 5 direct threats include littering, erosion and siltation, soil and rock mining, land fill activities, and fire.

Littering has been identified as an outcome of many factors. It can be that the amount of increased littering on Weno is an outcome of inadequate government policies to manage littering, a lack of proper waste management, lack of law enforcement combined with lack of environmental awareness and an environmentally unfriendly attitude. Mr. Eliot Cholymay, the Science Advisor from the Department of Education, verified that there environmental awareness is not part of the Chuuk School System Curriculum. The stakeholders mentioned that cultural practices also play a role in the littering problem. They stated that most of our food was always in leaf wrappings, which are biodegradable, and discarding those wrappings without much thought was the practice. But with the introduction of plastics and aluminium foil, which are not biodegradable, since after the WWII in 1945, this practice of discarding food wrappings still continues and has become an environmental problem.

All land and surrounding coastal waters on Weno is owned by the people. In the Chuuk Constitution it states that the land is passed down from mother to daughter, and that the brothers are the ones who care for the land. Traditionally, one person cannot own the land but the ‘corporation’ which is made up of the brothers and sisters. Because of this complex land ownership, it is often difficult to promote biodiversity conservation because most land owners, for instance, will not protect their land for the sake of biodiversity but will farm the land because there is that need for cash. Often times this need for cash has lead some land owners to use fire as a fast way to clear land before farming, hence killing the nutrients and tree roots in the soil and causing the soil to easily erode and wash away. This unfriendly practice can be a result of inadequate government policies, poor land management and legislation, lack of zoning law, and a lack of environmental awareness. Mostly likely if the land owners understood the level of damage they are causing to themselves, surely there is a chance they will change their ways.


The need for cash plus construction and development and a lack of environmental awareness contribute to the extent of mining of soil and rock and landfill activities. The stakeholders also pointed out that like fire and unfriendly farming, mining of soil and rock and landfill activities also contribute to deforestation.

Considerations of Concept Model as a Result of Questionnaire SurveyLittering, Fire and Pollution (in that order) were identified by the survey results as the 3 major direct threats to the target condition.

The stakeholders identified that all the activities that include fire, littering, mining, landfill activities all lead to deforestation which contributes to the level of soil erosion and siltation. All these then lead to pollution.

They said that the project should focus on all the direct threats despite the fact that only fire, littering and pollution were the three main ones that kept coming up during the survey analysis.


Note: The use of Conceptual Models as described in this document is based the work of Richard Margoluis and Nick Salafsky of Foundations of Success [FOS] and draws from their 1998 publication Measures of Success: Designing, Managing, and Monitoring Conservation Development Projects, published by Island Press. Their approach has been re-worked and re-tooled to fit the needs of Rare staff and local counterparts working on site assessments for projects supported by Rare. The development of concept models also includes a methodology known as “Brain-storming, Naming, Ordering” as an adaptation of the ToP (Technology of Participation) concept developed by Sherwood Shankland and the Institute of Cultural affairs.

Review of Environmental Legislation in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia

IntroductionThe word ‘conservation’ refers to the maintenance of the environmental quality, resources and species composition of a particular area (Osbourne, 2000). Maintaining the quality of the environment may include setting up protected areas, having seasonal closures for hunting certain species, and establishing sanctuaries where all types of harvesting activities are totally prohibited as a way to let the environment replenish itself naturally without outside disturbance. In Chuuk there are two ‘conservation’ practices called mechen and pwau4.

These two ‘conservation’ practices involve the closing of certain terrestrial, coastal, and/or marine areas, where harvesting of any plant or animal is totally prohibited. The closing of these certain areas depend on two situations. One is when a family or clan decides to close off certain areas as a sign of mourning for a loved one who has just recently passed away. The other is called by the traditional chief when he sees that certain plants and animals are not as common anymore. Once the areas are closed off because of the mechen or pwau, no one should enter those certain areas. Those who do enter the area should have special permission from the family, clan or traditional chief otherwise they would have to pay some form of compensation (e.g. food) to the family, clan or traditional chief. There had been instances a long time ago where trespassers had been killed hence this may be one of the many reasons why the mechen or pwau worked very well.

These two practices, the mechen and the pwau, are indications that conservation has been part of the traditional Chuukese culture since the beginning. Today, the pwau and mechen are not used as commonly as before. Also, there have been instances where certain areas have been under mechen or pwau yet people still find ways to harvest the trees and animals contained within the area without being seen or found out. Those who are found within the mechen or pwau areas are only required to pay money, food, land or some other sorts of compensation. Unlike in the past, it is not an option, today, to kill a person for trespassing the areas that are mechen or pwau.

Today the government of democracy has taken the place of traditional paramount chiefs whose word was law in the whole island state. Today, instead of the clan looking after the environment resources and making sure they are not depleted, it is now the Department of Public Safety’s job to make sure that everything in the community is safe and in order. There are ‘conservation’ legislation in the Chuuk State Constitution and Federated States of Micronesia Constitution, but it makes no difference if they are not implemented and made sure to be followed. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to look at the Chuuk State and the Federated States of Micronesia constitutions and critically evaluate what works, what does not work, and how it can be improved.

4 Interview with M. Akapito, COM-FSM, Chuuk campus student activity coordinator, December 2003.


Summary of Environmental Legislation

Chuuk State Code: Title 22: Environmental Protection and Preservation

Title 22: Chapter 3: Littering

The regulation on littering states that no person shall throw garbage of any type along the public roads, the waters, and outside people’s houses. It also states that littering also includes unpermitted writing on buildings or any other objects. Anyone convicted of littering should pay a fine of no more than $50.00. As for the businesses they are required to have enough receptacles for their garbage and that they should keep their business premises neat and clean at all times. If the businesses do not comply with this regulation, then they will be required to pay no more than $500 once convicted.

The Department of Public Safety is responsible for making sure that people do not litter and that the businesses keep their premises clean. This department is also responsible for giving people and businesses tickets for not complying to the ‘no littering’ regulation. Without proper implementation of this regulation, it will only remain as something written in the Chuuk State Constitution and nothing more.

Many people are so used to littering that they do not really think about how it impacts on the environment, and this is where it is very important to educate the public about it. Most of time there are no nearby receptacles to put trash in so the people just throw litter on the ground. This is something that the Department of Public Works and Chuuk Visitors’ Bureau should work together on to make sure there are enough garbage cans around the town area especially and that the garbage cans are dumped on a regular basis. It has been pointed out on many occasions that the road to the garbage dump is not very accessible. The bad condition of the road has caused many people to throw their garbage just about anywhere. The department of Public Works should therefore fix up the road and make sure to maintain the dump site well so as to limit the levels of environmental degradation caused by it.

The $50 dollars is a lot of money for the average person who usually throws litter around out of habit. Although this person may get a ticket from the police for littering, s/he will never pay the fine. This is why it is very good there is an alternative sentencing in the form of clean-up programs and other government activities. At least this alternative sentencing will help the person become actively involved in making sure that littering doesn’t increase. One suggestion would be to fine that person who litters 25 cents to a dollar. This will ensure that the person who litters will be able to pay the fine right there and then. This is suggested because once people see that they can be fined such little amount of money for littering then they would more likely stop littering not because they don’t have 25 cents but because they are tired of always giving 25 cents to the police every time they throw something out on the road.

The fine to the businesses need to be altered a bit since there are big stores that can pay $500 without hurting their profit and small stores that don’t even make that much money. The suggestion is that the amount of fine should be according to size of store and most especially size of profit. A big business that can easily pay $500 for the fine will not even worry so much about the fine because it makes loads of money. To prevent this from happening, amounts of fine should differ from store to store.


Title 22: Chapter 4: Fire Control

This chapter on fire control states that no one is allowed to set any type of fire on a land without the written permission from the governor or the governor’s representative. No fire shall be set during heavy wind or without nearby sufficient help. Should a person be given permission to set fire, he or she must watch the fire and make sure that it doesn’t spread to the other nearby lands. Anyone in violation of this fire control regulation will be fined up to 100 dollars or a month imprisonment.This fire control regulation will be difficult to carry out especially when majority of the land in Chuuk is owned by the people. Among the three sister states of the Federated States of Micronesia that kept the land returned by the Trust Territory in 1977 (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae), Chuuk returned the lands to the former owners and then negotiated new lease (Haglelgam, 2003). Returning the land to the former owners may have been a great idea at that particular time but today payments of land leases have become a major setback on the state’s finances.

Requiring a written permission from the governor or representative to set any type of fire on one’s own personal land will not work. The people will never agree to get such a written permission when it is their own personal land, and not the government’s. It is more feasible to set up training programs where the local people learn from the Department of Public Safety how to deal with fires that get out of control. The local people also need to learn how to avoid such situations which has the potential to cause death, the destruction of many homes, and not to mention the destruction of the land. It is best to work these programs at the village levels in collaboration with the village traditional leaders and the heads of the clans.

Chuuk State Code: Title 25: Maritime and Marine Resources

Title 25: Chapter 9: Dynamiting Fish Prohibited

It is unlawful for a person to use a canoe, boat or motor to dive for, gather, sell, purchase or possess fish that has been caught by dynamite. Any canoe, boat or motor used in such an event shall be seized by the Chuuk State conservation officers and become the property of the Chuuk State Government. In such a case that the sole owner of the canoe, boat or motor is not found to be criminally involved with the dynamiting fish event, s/he is entitled to a percentage of the proceeds should the government sell the canoe, boat or motor. Any person who knowingly and wilfully dives for, sell, purchase or possess fish caught by dynamite can be imprisoned for up to 6 months or fined not more than 100 dollars or both.

In the year 2002 there were about 6 boats that were confiscated and about 18 people who were arrested for possessing and selling fish that were caught by dynamite5. This is a surprisingly small number of boats confiscated and people arrested considering that Chuuk makes up about 50 % percent of the whole FSM population of 53,595 (Chuuk State Census Report, 2000). The conservation officers are always at the airport before departure so they can check people’s ice chest of fish and make sure they are not dynamite fish.

The Department of Marine Resources cannot patrol the waters and the markets alone so they need help from the community. In the past the Marine Resources program involved the Bishop where he spoke and asked his parishes not to buy any fish caught by dynamite. Since Chuuk is a Christian community, it was a great idea to involve the Church. Aside from involving the Bishop, other programs included radio shows, visits to schools, and community visits where they talked about the bad effects of dynamiting fish since it not only kills the fish but the reef in general. All in all, the Department of Marine Resources should work to involve more of the community members in its efforts to stop fish dynamiting practices.5 Interview with F. Stephen, Marine Conservation Officer, December 2003.


FSM Code: Title 25: Environmental Protection

Subtitle 1: Trust Territory Environmental Quality Protection Act: Chapter 1: General Provisions This chapter talks about how the people, plants and animals are dependent on the health of the environment for water systems, agricultural, industrial, recreational, and basis for tourism. For this purpose, it has been declared that the government has the role to achieve, restore, and maintain the health of the environment for the people, plants and animals. The government should also keep the environment healthy and intact so as to limit the levels of injury that could be caused by environmental degradation. In doing so economic and social development has the potential to be promoted and maintained for the enjoyment of the environment’s attractions.

On a specific note should there be a high level of contaminants in the public water system declared unsafe for people, plants and animals, the government should make sure to have the level of contaminants decreased to the point that the public water becomes safe to use.

FSM Code: Title 23: Resource Conservation

Chapter 1: Marine-Species Preservation

This chapter is for the protection of marine species such as turtles, black-lip mother-of-pearl oyster shells, trochus, and marine mammals. The use of explosives, poisons, chemicals and all other substances that can harm the marine life are prohibited. No person should knowingly engage in obtaining, selling, or possessing fish that has been caught by the use of dynamite or any other means of explosives and chemicals. Section 102 of this chapter gives 2 exceptions. One exception allows people to obtain the fish or marine life to avoid the waste or loss of such fish or marine life. The second exception allows consumption or sale of fish or marine life caught by any prohibited means where it is not harmful or hazardous to health and human life. These two exceptions are based on making sure that such fish or marine life caught by dynamite or the like does not go to waste. The disadvantage of such exceptions is that they will actually encourage people to allow for such prohibited activities simply because they will get the benefit of collecting such fish or marine life, and not have to go out to the open sea to fish. The fish or marine life will go to waste should such exceptions not be made, but it is better to let them go to waste so people will fully see how destructive such activities are. In turn, they will feel more strongly about discouraging people from destroying the reefs, fish and/or marine life by using such prohibited means. Any person who is found guilty of obtaining fish or marine life by such prohibited means can be fined not less than 100 dollars or more than 2,000 dollars, or put in jail for not less than 6 months or more than two years. Such a person can be fined or put in jail or both.

Section 105 of this chapter involves the protection of turtles. Turtles should not be taken or intentionally killed while on shore, and their eggs should not be taken. Hawksbill turtles should measure 27 inches lengthwise, and green turtles 34 inches lengthwise before they can be taken or killed. No turtles should be taken or killed from the first day of June to the 31 st of August inclusive and from the first day of December to the 31st of January inclusive. Turtles and their eggs for the purpose of scientific purposes with authorization from the responsible department are allowed. Three reasons there are limitations to implementing this section. First is that there is inadequate number of patrol boats that can patrol the waters and make sure no one takes or kills turtles during the closing season, and also turtles and their eggs on shore. Secondly, there has been no measuring device given out to the local people to use to measure the turtles when they are out hunting. Thirdly, there is inadequate information on the population of turtles within our


marine waters so the responsible department does not know how many turtles he/she can allow for scientific purposes without unintentionally causing its great decline.

Section 106 states that no sponges should be taken unless there is an authorization from the responsible department. Section 107 is for the protection of the black-lip mother-of-pearl oyster shell. Here it states that no shells should be taken from the first day of August to the 31 st of December inclusive. No shells should be taken if they are less than 6 inches in minimum diameter. Shells can be taken, however, for scientific purposes authorized by the responsible department.

Sections 108 to 114 are for the protection of trochus. No trochus should be taken if less than 3 inches in diameter. The open season may differ in each of the different island states in the Federated States of Micronesia. If each state sees that there is a great decrease in the trochus population, they have the right to close off the harvesting season until research and information confirms that it is alright to start harvesting again. The trochus harvesting can only be by citizens only.

Section 115 is for the protection of marine mammals, which includes porpoises, whales, seals and dugongs. No marine mammal shall be taken or killed for commercial purposes, but can be killed for traditional purposes. This section does not clearly define what those traditional purposes are hence allowing for people to take advantage of that omission in information. Even traditional purposes can greatly decrease the marine mammal populations.

Anyone found guilty of violating the provisions of this particular chapter for marine-species preservation can be put in jail for not more than 6 months, fined not more than 100 dollars, or both.

Chapter 3: Endangered Species Act

This chapter is known as the ‘Trust Territory Endangered Species Act of 1975’ and it states that the Congress of Micronesia has decided that certain plants and animals are now threatened and in danger of becoming extinct, and that it is the policy of the government to take measures to prevent the extinction of such species. The administration of this particular chapter includes the authority to set up programs catered towards conserving the endangered and threatened species including research work to determine which species are in fact endangered and threatened. When necessary the administration of this chapter can include acquisition of land or aquatic habitat or interest for the protection of such endangered or threatened species. The chapter states that it is prohibited for any person to take, possess, export or use for commercial purposes the endangered or threatened plants or animals including parts. Any person found guilty of violating what is stated in this chapter will be fined not more than 10,000 dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

There are a number of exceptions to the provisions of this chapter. They include scientific uses, public nuisances; public safety, controlled farming, subsistence uses, innocent possession, and prior possession. The abundance of endangered or threatened species have not been fully recorded so it does not make sense to make exceptions because we are not sure if there are still many of these endangered or threatened species or if they are on the brink of extinction. Because of this lack of complete research on the number of endangered or threatened species, the director of Resources and Development does not know the viable number of species to be used for scientific purposes. It should also become a requirement that copies of scientific studies involving species from our home islands be given to the local government. This way we can benefit from such a study and information and knowledge of our species could be shared between our government and the research people. This lack of information also makes the exception for public nuisance not applicable because were we to kill off some endangered or threatened species, we are probably bringing their numbers closer to extinction.


ConclusionThere was no specific section on the protection of birds, trees and mangroves mentioned in the Chuuk State and the Federated States of Micronesia constitutions, and there should be. Environmental protection and preservation is mentioned in both constitutions yet none on birds, trees and mangroves. It is highly recommended that these three be put in the constitutions for the following reasons. Water quality is mentioned in the protection and preservation of environment yet water quality can not be maintained should the trees in the forests be deforested. Birds, likewise, are important because they carry seeds from place to place, and they are the ones who will plant trees where there are none. For instance, the places that had landslides have no trees, has the potential to slide again, and contribute to the decrease in water quality coming down from the mountain. The birds, being seed dispersants and carriers, will help improve the water quality that had been declined due to the landslides. Marine life has been stated as very important and protection is mentioned in the constitutions. Mangroves need to be protected as well as they filter sediments going out to the reefs. These sediments can smother the reefs, kill them, and destroy the places where marine life grows.

Research needs to be done in order to understand what we have in our island homes. It is not enough to legislate the protection of the environment but we must understand how many turtles we have, how many different types of species that are only found in our island homes (endemic), what are the breeding seasons of such species, and what exactly do the species need in order to survive longer. All in all, the environmental legislations will not work unless we work with the communities to get their support and participation, and do research so we understand our own island environments in order to make the right choices and actions for particular environmental needs.


The Flagship Species

IntroductionThe selection of a flagship species for the Pride Campaign, is important, as it will provide a focus for the campaign, and be the “voice” for key conservation messages. Many habitats and species should benefit as a result.

The selection should also take into consideration whether that species is endemic (found nowhere else) to the target area, is actually present in the target area, is not culturally seen as a pest, and has the charisma to instil local pride in the mere protection of its population and habitat, among other things.

The flagship species will be the spokesperson for conservation, communicating to the people of Weno that sustainable use of our upland forests and mangroves, and keeping our island clean and beautiful, among other things, will have positive benefits to us, our children, and our future. This paper will talk about the concept of biodiversity in regards to species’ selection for conservation efforts for Weno Island in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia, and will also justify why one particular species was chosen over others.

The Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) defines biodiversity as the ‘diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems’. In short, biodiversity is ‘all-encompassing’, and refers to the different plants, animals and micro-organisms plus the genes they contain and the ecosystems they form (Osbourne, 2000).

Biological ConsiderationsThe IUCN stated different reasons for biodiversity loss. They include the destruction of physical habitat, displacement by introduced species, alterations of habitat by chemical pollutants, hybridisation, and over-harvesting. In addition, many studies including Lawton and May (1995) stated that the risk of extinction of any particular species is dependent on whether that species has a large population number, a highly resistant life stage (e.g. spores), a continuous and long breeding season, high migratory rates, high chances of adults surviving through many breeding cycles, and a low rate of encroachment upon its habitat (inter specific competition).

Most recent extinctions have concerned species which have had restricted geographical distributions (Primack, 1998), of which 75 percent have been restricted to oceanic islands, which have the characteristics of being small and isolated as opposed to continents. It is said that in the last 400 years oceanic island birds have become 40 times more likely to become extinct, and 80 % of oceanic island animal species have become extinct compared to those on continents (Walter, 1998). Species easily become endangered after human development has altered an area, making the species’ minimum home range smaller (Dobson, 1995). Other traits that determine whether a certain species is extinction-prone include poor dispersal capabilities and a requirement for more than one habitat to complete their life cycle (Osbourne, 2000).

In 1965 McArthur & Wilson proposed a model to explain patterns of species diversity observed on oceanic islands (Dobson, 1995). The concept of ‘island biogeography’ (MacArthur & Wilson, 1967) explains that a larger island will have more species than a smaller island mainly because larger islands have more habitats than smaller islands, therefore can accommodate more species with different habitat needs and preferences. Also, an island close to a main source of biodiversity will have higher species diversity because the distance to travel between them is short and species are more likely to survive. For instance, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a lot more


species compared to any of the other Pacific Islands. This is because it is closer to Australia, which is a source of high species diversity, and the short distance between them allows for species to easily travel. Also, the large landmass of PNG, compared to the other Pacific Islands, is able to accommodate different types of species and habitats hence its high species diversity.

In general, areas that are small and distant from source of biodiversity (SDS) have less number of resident species as opposed to areas that are small but close to source of biodiversity ( SCS). Areas that are large and distant from source of biodiversity (SDL) have less number of resident species than areas that are large and close to source of biodiversity (SCL). Overall, areas either close or distant to source of biodiversity but large in size has higher numbers of resident species than areas either close or distant to source of biodiversity but small in size.

The concept of island biogeography is very important for biodiversity conservation. This is because it explains that to protect species, there must be protection of its habitat, and to protect its habitat, the ideal size and distance from source area must be put into consideration. It is also important to take note that the concept of island biogeography does not only relate to oceanic islands but to the general idea of establishing the ideal size for protected areas so that it meets the habitat needs and preferences of the species in need of protection. This concept also stresses that it is crucial that any conservation efforts to protect Weno’s chosen flagship species include the species’ ideal size home range and habitat preferences, and most importantly that the size of any protected areas be large in size and close to source of biodiversity.

The Chuuk Monarch, Metabolus rugensis, has been selected as the flagship species for the Rare Pride Conservation Education Campaign for Weno. This bird is known locally as the Uwaw.

Figure 6: The Chuuk Monarch, Metabolis rugensis (male, female and, juvenile).

The

Chuuk Monarch is a 20 cm flycatcher endemic to Chuuk (BirdLife International, 2000), meaning that it is only found in Chuuk and nowhere else in the world. Its endemism may be a result of either a poor ability to disperse or a failure to colonize (Myers, 1994). The concept of speciation explains that each sub-population of an inter-breeding population that becomes separated by barriers will diverge genetically and morphologically. This divergence may be to the extent that were these sub-populations to be reunited, they may not be able to interbreed (Osbourne, 2000). Interestingly, Baker (1951) stated that a probable ancestor of the Chuuk Monarch could be that present in the Solomons. This, in fact, can be explained by what is known as allopatric speciation,


where speciation occurs through geographical isolation (Osbourne, 2000). The barrier, in this case, between the Chuuk Monarch and the species in the Solomons could be the distance separated by the ocean. The male Chuuk Monarch is white all over with a black face, the female is all black, and their juvenile is brown in colour. Its local name ‘Uwaw’ is a reflection of the song it makes. The Chuuk Monarch, Metabolus rugensis, is a taxonomically unique species because it is what is called a ‘monotypic genus’ or the only species in its genus Metabolus (pers. comm, Pratt 2003). This means that the species is more distinct from its nearest relatives in some other genera (pers. comm., Corke, 2003). As can be seen, the Chuuk Monarch is very different in appearance from the Yap Monarch, Monarchi godeffroyi (on right) although they both belong to the family Monarchidae or Monarch Flycatchers.

The Chuuk Monarch lays only 1 egg during each breeding season, and the chances of that one egg surviving to adulthood can be very scarce (Baker, 1951; Engbring et al, 1990). The low level of survivorship of the one egg that the Chuuk Monarch lays during each breeding season is one factor that contributes to its endangered status.

The distribution of the Chuuk Monarch on Weno has become fragmented because of habitat destruction to its small home range causing a population decline, and making the species endangered (Engbring et al, 1990; BirdLife International, 2000). The Chuuk Monarch is a rare bird, which has become rarer especially after the area where it was commonly found burned down in the 1970’s. The bird prefers areas with thick, leafy understorey and its nesting is in trees with dense foliage (BirdLife International, 2000). This means that any open area in the forest or mangroves will not be a place to find the Chuuk Monarch.

Interviews with the local people (pers. comm., Wichap & Sapuk interviewees 2003), however, confirmed that this bird is still present on the island though uncommon, and could only be found high up in the mountain forests, especially on Mt. Witipon (the highest peak on Weno). Because it is found on nearly all the high islands within the lagoon and some of the reef islets, it can be presumed that the bird is migratory. The bird moves around in a family pack, and the fact that it is territorial means that it can be found many times in the same general area on different days. If that general area were to be destroyed, the bird would find it difficult to find a new place to settle. This is why it is important to ensure that the habitats where it is found are kept intact and not encroached upon to ensure that this unique species is not lost to our home islands forever (Osbourne, 2000).

The Chuuk Monarch lives in old-growth forests, especially those high up on the mountains, and is also known to live in extensive strands of mangroves (Pratt et al, 1987). Both these two types of habitats are important to the environment and human lives. The old-growth forests high up in the mountain hold the soil firmly hence limiting chances for landslides, soil erosion, and flooding (Redford, 1992). This is important information to get out to the general public especially since the tropical storm Cha’atan that hit the islands in July 2002 caused a lot of deaths from landslides, which could have been prevented by not cutting the trees up in the mountains. In addition forests also play a role in watershed management by ensuring that our water source is kept clean and abundant. Mangroves are environmental barriers to high waves and strong winds, and are areas of high biodiversity because it is the breeding sites for many marine animals (e.g. fish, crustaceans) and birds (Molony & Sheaves, 1995).

Considering that Chuuk is dependent on its fisheries and tourism industry (NBSAP, 2002), the protection of the Chuuk Monarch and its habitats will definitely benefit such industries. There will be more fish in the lagoon as a result of maintaining the breeding sites (mangroves) and more tourists will come to Chuuk, not only to dive the shipwrecks, but also to see the beautiful coral reefs full of marine life. Also, the island forests will be kept intact hence limiting the amount of erosion and silt that could possibly smother mangrove trees. Protecting the Chuuk Monarch habitats also allows for possible discoveries for medical breakthrough within the forest and


mangrove areas. Also, the survival of the mangrove crab by the protection of the mangroves can continue as a stable food plus the potential for commercial trade. The Chuuk Monarch feeds on insects hence it plays a role in controlling insect populations (Engbring et al, 1990). But the bird does not qualify for status as a keystone species because it is not ecologically related to a number of species, and its insect consumption is not sufficient enough reason to qualify it either. There is no present ongoing conservation effort, including legislation, focused on the protection of the Chuuk Monarch and its habitat. The Chuuk Constitution has declared the ‘Toong’ as the state flower (Section 7 Article XI) but no mention of the Chuuk Monarch as the state bird. Presently, there is a ‘Chuuk Promotion Group’ working on declaring it as the state bird and passing legislation to support its conservation.

Cultural ConsiderationsA pre-project survey questionnaire, conducted in March 2003 to measure the levels of knowledge the local community has on the environment of Weno, did not clearly show whether the Chuuk Monarch, which is about 20 cm in size (Pratt et al, 1994), is a primary food source for the people, however 22.3 percent of those interviewed did state that birds are important as food source. Further, 4.3 percent of those interviewed during the pre-project survey questionnaire stated that birds are important for local medicine. An interview with one of the local people (pers. comm. Suda 2003) revealed that the feathers of the Chuuk Monarch are often used as decorations for headbands and other local ornaments, as well as ingredients in local love potions.

The Chuuk Monarch is a very attractive bird and this characteristic can be used in a variety of ways. The FSM Telecommunications can use a picture of it on their phone cards. The post office can make new stamps with the bird on it. Local craft shops can make handicrafts, carvings, and other ornaments depicting the bird to sell locally and outside the state. Printing shops can use its picture on t-shirts, stickers, postcards and other materials as a way to promote the uniqueness of Chuuk. Any established independent conservation organization can focus their conservation efforts on the protection of the bird, and solicit financial assistance locally and internationally, especially from conservation groups focused on species conservation. Tour guide groups and hotels could use the bird picture as well to attract customers to come to Chuuk.

Other ways to use the Chuuk Monarch includes keeping it in captivity and have tourists pay a certain fee to see the unique species. Like the British Museum that has a stuffed Chuuk Monarch, Chuuk can also have one displayed and a certain fee charged to see it though this should be a live one. An environmental NGO can solicit a lot of money if it were to set up a protected area especially for the Chuuk Monarch. This protected area can also be a place for birdwatchers from all over the world to have a chance to get a glimpse of this endemic bird in the wild. They will certainly pay a lot of money to travel to Chuuk just to see the Chuuk Monarch. Once the ‘Chuuk Promotion Group’ becomes successful in declaring the Chuuk Monarch as a state bird, there will be more recognition of the bird and a lot more benefits will be gained by its protection by the local communities. Other benefits from the Chuuk Monarch would be donating its eggs to a research institute and charging them a big fee for it, as well as selling the bird in the pet trade.

Ethical and Aesthetic JustificationsOnly 0.5 percent of the 400 people interviewed during the pre-project survey questionnaire stated that birds are God’s creation and that it is our responsibility to care for them, but 4.5 percent of the 400 people interviewed stated they were important for their aesthetic values. Most of the locals are familiar with the Chuuk Monarch though many were not aware that it is endemic or only


found in Chuuk. According to the survey, only 6 out of 400 people on Weno knew that the Chuuk Monarch is endemic to the islands.

When shown the picture of the Chuuk Monarch, from the ‘Forest and Land Birds of the FSM’ by US Fish and Wildlife Services, locals excitedly told of the legend related to the bird. The legend tells that the bird was the most beautiful bird in all of Chuuk. It was such a proud bird and wanted all good things for himself. One day he went out with some friends to look for food, and they found an octopus to feed on. Selfish as he was, he poked at the head of the octopus then the black ink squirted on his face and could not be washed off at all. This is the story told to explain why the male bird has a black face when its body is white all over. Locals also say that whenever one sees a Chuuk Monarch flying about, it means it is going to rain. This rationale behind this is that it comes out in the rain to try to wash off its black face. They also explain the reason for its rarity is because it hides away because it is ashamed of its black face.

The Chuuk Monarch is calling out to the Chuukese people to help him wash away the blackness of his face by protecting its habitats, the old-growth forests and mangroves. He is telling us the moral of his story encouraging us not to be selfish and proud like he was but to learn from our mistakes and make things better lest our faces turn black too and we will have to hide them in shame. The endemism of the Chuuk Monarch shows how special our island homes are because they are the only places in the whole world where this bird can live. It is in our hands to ensure the survival of this unique bird or it will be gone forever. The fact that this bird is beautiful and unique, and only found in Chuuk can easily bring out the pride and feeling of responsibility for its protection because it is ours and no one else’s.

Other Flagship Species ConsideredThe species that was potential as the flagship species was the Chuuk Flycatcher or Oceanic Flycatcher (right side), Myiagra oceanica, locally known as Nichok. The main reason for it being potential was basically because it was the only other bird found on Weno and endemic to Chuuk, aside from the Chuuk Monarch. Because studies stated that there was a chance that the Chuuk Monarch was not present on Weno anymore, the Chuuk Flycatcher was chosen as the second option.

The following are reasons why the Chuuk Flycatcher was not elected as the flagship species. The Chuuk Flycatcher is very similar in appearance, if not in colour, to the Pohnpei Flycatcher, Miagra pluto (left side). So, a black and white picture of the bird could easily be mistaken for the others. In order to instil pride in protecting a species unique and found only in Chuuk, the flagship species must be so different in appearance that there is no chance of mistaking it with any other. This way the flagship species can definitely identified to Chuuk, and not mistaken as one from Pohnpei. The bird is still very common (Engbring et al, 1990). A count done by Engbring et al (1990) showed more than 3,000 present. The Chuuk Flycatcher can live in a variety of habitats, including agricultural areas, hence it is not as endangered as the Chuuk Monarch that requires very specific habitats. Also, the fact that it can live in all types of habitat does not portray the urgency to conserve our coastal wildlife and habitats before we lose them forever. To reiterate, the local people could argue that there is no use to conserve the species because it is still very common, and no use to conserve its habitat because it can always move to other types. This means that people will not perceive this particular bird as a high conservation priority.

Locals state that the Chuuk Flycatcher indicates the dawning of a new day. This fact can be used as a key message telling Chuukese that it is time to change our destructive ways to the environment, and show that we truly care by conserving and protecting our unique animals and plants. Because locals see the Chuuk Flycatcher as annoying and noisy, it is possible that the locals will not pay much attention to any message to care for our environment let alone protecting


the bird. Usually a person who talks too much and does not know when to keep quiet is often described as ‘okurangen Nichok’ or ‘noisy as a Chuuk Flycatcher’. So efforts done to ensure the protection of this bird could be seen as ‘just making noise’ and no action. Its name Chuuk Flycatcher is not as appealing as Chuuk Monarch to use for promotion purposes. The word monarch means a king or royalty so many business, organizations or sports team would prefer more to use Chuuk Monarch than Chuuk Flycatcher, which literally depicts something that catches flies and insects. For these reasons it is not a good idea to use the Chuuk Flycatcher, an annoying and noisy bird, as our champion for conservation.

Conclusion The Chuuk Monarch has been chosen as the flagship species for many reasons. It is endemic to our island homes, and the male bird is so unique in appearance that it can never be mistaken for another island’s bird. This fact alone is enough to incite local pride, knowing that this is ours and ours alone. It also stresses that it is our responsibility to care for this special bird, and that our actions determine whether this bird will live for a long time or not. The Chuuk Monarch is endangered and more in need of protection than the Chuuk Flycatcher which can live in a variety of habitats. The local people know more about the Chuuk Monarch and its legends. Because of this it will be easier to relate the moral of the legend to the people as an encouragement not to hide our face in shame but to take action and have pride in our island environment. Just as the Chuuk Monarch constantly goes out to wash its black face every time it rains, it is time for Chuukese to also wash away bad habits and work together to make Chuuk a better, cleaner and beautiful home to live.


Population Study of the Chuuk MonarchA critical assessment of the methodology used to survey the Chuuk Monarch (Metabolus rugensis) on the island of Weno, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia.

AbstractThe Chuuk Monarch is an endemic flycatcher only found in the lagoon islands and islets of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. The bird has always been rare and has become rarer due to destruction of its habitat within the old-growth native forests and extensive mangrove areas. As the human population of Chuuk increases, the bird becomes more endangered. Although the Chuuk Monarch has been reported to be the Chuuk State Bird, there has been no legislation passed to support such reports. Previous studies have indicated that the Chuuk Monarch is no longer present on Weno, the study site, because a fire in the late 1970’s burned the general area where it was found. The Variable Circular Plot Method was used on a one day survey activity to see if the Chuuk Monarch was still present at Fairam in the village of Mwan where locals said that it was quite common. The best management practice for the Chuuk Monarch is to protect its habitat such as the remaining native forests and extensive mangrove areas. This aim of this paper is therefore to critically assess the method that was used to survey the Chuuk Monarch, and recommend ways the survey activity could have been improved.

IntroductionThe Chuuk Monarch is a 20 cm flycatcher with several colour phases (Pratt et al, 1987; Engbring et al, 1990). The male Chuuk Monarch is white all over with a black face, the female is all black, and their juvenile is brown in colour. Oftentimes, the juvenile can be mistaken for the Nightingale Reed-Warbler but the monarch has a dark bill, browner underparts, a shorter tail, and is heavier-bodies. The female can be mistaken for the Micronesian Starling but the monarch has a dark eye, is more slender, has a slender beak and has a longer tail. Very different from the Micronesian Starling and Nightingale Reed-Warbler, the Chuuk Monarch commonly fans its tail (Engbring et al, 1990).

The Chuuk Monarch, Metabolus rugensis, is a taxonomically unique species because it is what is called a ‘monotypic genus’ or the only species in its genus Metabolus (pers. comm., Pratt 2003). This means that the species is more distinct from its nearest relatives in some other genera (pers. comm., Corke, 2003). The Chuuk Monarch, in this case, is very different in appearance from the Yap Monarch, Monarchi godeffroyi, although they both belong to the family Monarchidae or Monarch Flycatchers.

Behaviour

Studies state that the Chuuk monarch often moves through the forest understorey in a family group consisting of an adult male, an adult female, and their young spending most its time in the mid and upper forest layers sometimes foraging nearly to the ground (Engbring et al, 1990). The bird appears to be strongly territorial and can be repeatedly found in the same general area on different days. Although the bird can be quite secretive and usually remains in thick foliage, it is not shy and can forage quite near to an observer (Brandt, 1962; Engbring et al, 1990).

The nesting season for the Chuuk Monarch is during the spring months of April, May, June and July. During each breeding season the Chuuk Monarch lays only 1 egg and the chances of that one egg surviving to adulthood can be very scarce (Baker, 1951; Engbring et al, 1990). The low


level of survivorship of the one egg that the Chuuk Monarch lays during each breeding season is one factor that contributes to its endangered status.

The Chuuk Monarch’s local name ‘Uwaw’ is a reflection of the song it makes and is said to be often heard just before daybreak at 5:00 in the morning. The bird has no well-defined songs and its calls include a human like whistle and an u-waw sound. Oftentimes the human like whistle call of the monarch is imitated by the Micronesian Starling so it is very important to confirm which bird made that particular call.

According to local legend the bird is hard to find because it hides away in shame after an octopus squirted black ink on its face when it pecked its head. The local people explain that the Chuuk Monarch is often heard before it rains because the bird is calling the rain to come and wash away the black ink from its face.

HabitatsThe Chuuk Monarch lives in old-growth forests, especially those high up on the mountains, and is also known to live in extensive strands of mangroves (Pratt et al, 1987). Studies have shown that the bird appears to be dependent on old-growth native forests, favours to inhabit areas with thick, leafy understorey, and feeds on insects, lizards, and other prey from the foliage (Engbring et al, 1990; BirdLife International, 2000). This means that any open area in the forest or mangroves will not be a place to find the Chuuk Monarch.

DistributionThe Chuuk Monarch is endemic to Chuuk (BirdLife International, 2000), meaning that it is only found in Chuuk and nowhere else in the world. Its endemism may be a result of either a poor ability to disperse or a failure to colonize (Myers, 1994). The concept of speciation explains that each sub-population of an inter-breeding population that becomes separated by barriers will diverge genetically and morphologically. This divergence may be to the extent that were these sub-populations to be reunited, they may not be able to interbreed (Osbourne, 2000). Interestingly, Baker (1951) stated that a probable ancestor of the Chuuk Monarch could be that present in the Solomons. This, in fact, can be explained by what is known as allopatric speciation, where speciation occurs through geographical isolation (Osbourne, 2000). The barrier, in this case, between the Chuuk Monarch and the species in the Solomons could be the distance separated by the ocean.

The Chuuk Monarch is found on nearly all the lagoon islands and the outer reef islets of Chuuk. The highest densities reported from Tol have been found in small patches of upland native forest and well-developed stands of mangroves (pers. comm., Dutson 2002). The bird has also been observed on breadfruit trees (pers. comm., Refit 2002).

Reports by ornithologists, who were on Weno in the late 1970’s, suggested that the entire population of Chuuk Monarch on this particular island went extinct after fire destroyed the patch of forest where they occurred. After speaking with many local people, including the small children, it appears that the Chuuk Monarch is still very much present on Weno. The patch of forest that was burned in the late 1970’s has grown back and there is a chance that the Chuuk Monarch has gone back there again. Douglas Pratt and his group went bird watching in February 2003 and there was no sign of the bird. The bird is very difficult to see so there was very little chance that the group would see it during their one-day excursion.

The locals say that it is best to find the bird on Mt. Tonoken or Mt. Witipon, which are the two highest peaks on Weno. This is one reason why it would be untrue that the Chuuk Monarch could


have gone extinct on Weno after the fire in the 1970’s because there are many more native forests atop the other mountain areas that the birds could have flown to. The distribution of the Chuuk Monarch on Weno has definitely become fragmented because of habitat destruction to its small home range causing a population decline, and making the species endangered (Engbring et al, 1990; BirdLife International, 2000). The Chuuk Monarch is a rare bird, which has become rarer especially after the area where it was commonly found burned down in the 1970’s. It has a very small population and its distribution is wide but sparse, and recommendations have been made to monitor its population and protect because it is endangered (Birdlife International, 2000). Even though the Chuuk Monarch is reported to be the state bird, there is no evidence of any legislation specific for its conservation (Endangered Species Act, 1975, FSM Code).

Population Study SiteThe only remaining native forest patch found on Weno are found up on the mountains such as Mt. Tonoken and Mt. Witipon. Extensive mangrove areas extending from Sapuk down to Peidiu and Nukanap have been identified as areas of high biodiversity and in need of protection. Birds found on Weno according to Engbring et al (1990) include white-tailed tropicbird, yellow bittern, pacific night heron, red junglefowl, white browed rail, brown noddy, black noddy, white tern, caroline island ground dove, purple capped fruit dove, island swiftlet, nightingale reed warbler, chuuk monarch, oceanic flycatcher, Micronesian starling, cardinal honeyeater, bridled white eye and the blue faced parrofinch. Of all these birds, the Chuuk Monarch and the Oceanic Flycatcher are endemic to Chuuk State.

Like all other Pacific Island Countries (Zann, 1994) Weno has a very rapid population growth and particularly limited natural resources. Unfortunately, its limited coastal land area has been developed without adequate attention to either appropriateness or location or related issues thereby its native vegetation has been greatly modified and destroyed by the dense population (Division of Lands, 1981; Falanruw et al, 1987; Chuuk Islands, 2000).

Population Study MethodThe method used for surveying the distribution and abundance of the Chuuk Monarch on the island of Weno was the Variable Circular Plot Method. This method involves transects scattered through different broad habitats plus survey points where x minutes is spend to count what is seen or heard (Engbring et al, 1990; pers. comm., Goldingay 2003).

A 250 m transect with five 50 m survey points ran up the mountain at Fairam located in Mwan Village. The 250 m transect was placed as a straight line unless there was an obstacle in the way in which we had to go around it. The survey started at 8:25 a.m. until 11:25 a.m on October 1, 2003. At each 50 m survey point 8-minutes was spend counting what birds were seen or heard that particular day. The 4 volunteers and guides were not familiar with most of the birds so they would describe them. Equipments brought for the survey included a tape recorder, a cassette of bird songs including that of the Chuuk Monarch, a pair of binoculars, and a 50 m string that was used to measure out the 250 transect line. Two people would measure out the 50 m survey point and 2 people looked out for birds. At the 50 m points everyone looked out for birds that were seen or heard lateral to the point for about 8 minutes. Aside from counting birds, the type of habitat found at each particular 50 m point was also noted.


Results

Table 1: Number of birds seen or heard during eight (8) minute counts every 50m interval.

Species 1 2 3 4 5 TOTALChuuk Monarch

- - - - - -

Micronesian Starling

1 - - 1 - 2

Chuuk Flycatcher

5 5 4 2 1 17

White Tern 5 - 4 3 - 12Cardinal Honeyeater

6 - 1 - 3 10

Island Swiflet

1 6 2 2 1 12

Bridled White Eye

- - - 2 - 2

Purple-capped fruitdove

1 1 - 4 - 6

White-tailed tropicbird

- 1 - - 1 2

Brown Noddy

1 - - 1 1 3

TOTAL 20 13 11 15 7Note: survey points are 50 m each.

Types of Vegetation within each 50 m survey points on the transect: 1-50 m: Mixture of coconut trees, breadfruit trees, mango trees, and native vegetation 50-100 m: Mixture of agroforest, native vegetation, and open area 100-150 m: Mixture of agroforest, native vegetation, and open area 150-200 m: Mostly native vegetation; thick upperstorey that it was difficult to see birds

flying overhead 200-250 m: Open area with a few coconut trees; Thick Hibiscus area.


Discussion

Method

The Variable Circular Plot Method is useful for determining the types of habitat found in the area surveyed plus the types and number of birds found during an 8-minute count within the 50 m point intervals. This particular method also allows for comparative study between seasons.

It would be good to also have, along with the plot method, a time to look for Chuuk Monarch nests so to find out the size of its eggs, confirm if they lay only 1 egg per breeding season, and see the type of trees they prefer to build their nest on.

In regards to the Chuuk Monarch, results from this method would have indicated the type of habitat the bird prefers the most by its density at any one particular habitat. Table 1 showed that no Chuuk Monarch was found during the survey. Other birds such Island Swiflet, White Tern, Cardinal Honeyeater, and the Chuuk Flycatcher were the most commonly found birds during the survey. Three times during the early morning the human like whistle of the Uwaw was heard but the bird itself was not seen. The call was disregarded and assumed to be one of the Micronesian Starling since 2 of them were found during the survey. The survey showed that the Chuuk Flycatcher is still very common (Table 1) and that it can be found in a variety of habitats, unlike the Chuuk Monarch. The Chuuk Monarch was likely to be found in the 200-250 m survey point since there was a thicket of Hibiscus (Table 2) but that was not the case. During an 8 minute count, the Chuuk Flycatcher was once again counted but not the Chuuk Monarch.

The survey results showed that there were more birds during the first 50 m compared to all the other points (Table 1). This could be attributed to the fact that it was still early in the morning and that is when birds are most active plus the fact that there were fruit trees present in that particular area (Table 2). The survey results also showed a significant drop in the number of birds found in the last 50 m point. This could be because it was mostly open area and not the best place for the birds to rest, hide away from prey, or look for food. From the results, it can therefore be assumed that birds do not prefer open areas. This much can be said about the Chuuk Monarch.

Limitations

According to studies, it is assumed that there would have been a high probability of finding the Chuuk Monarch along the ridge of the mountains where most of the intact forests are located, and amongst extensive mangroves with very little disturbance. Since the survey activity did not run along the ridge within native forests or amongst extensive mangroves, it is not surprising that no Chuuk Monarch was recorded in the results (Table 1). Although locals stated that the Chuuk Monarch was commonly found in the Fairam area, the fact that it is close to the area where landslide occurred could also have contributed to the lack of Chuuk Monarch at the time of the survey.

Timing was very essential for the sake of the survey and the fact that it started at 8:30 a.m., when birds are most active, was late considering that the Chuuk Monarch is often heard calling at 5:00 a.m. This means that it would have been better for the survey team to have either headed up to the mountain as early as 3:00 a.m. the same day of the survey or climb the mountain the previous day and camp out.

It is also very ideal to survey certain birds during their nesting season so the best time to survey the Chuuk Monarch is actually during the spring months of April, May, June and July. The duration of the survey activity should have been more than a day, where different areas within the Chuuk Monarch’s preferred habitats would have been surveyed. The survey should have taken place both in the morning and in the evening to see if the appearance of the Chuuk Monarch is


most likely in the morning or in the evening. A month set aside for surveying the Chuuk Monarch during its nesting season would have to include site visits firsthand so to save time and effort.

It would be ideal for more people to have been involved in the survey activities so more transects could have been placed in different habitats hence a higher probability of spotting a Chuuk Monarch. The months of June and July is the ideal time, not only because it is the nesting season for the bird, but it is summer and there will be more people who can volunteer their time since school is out then. There would be an ideal time to have a training workshop when volunteers will make site vests to learn to identify different birds by seeing them and hearing their calls as well as knowing about them (nesting season, habitat preferences, food, etc.). After such a workshop different groups can then be divided up and sent to assigned study areas for survey. This way more area will be covered raising the probability of finding the Chuuk Monarch. Plus, more people will then be experienced with surveying birds and habitats ensuring that such an activity can be ongoing.


Evaluation of the School Visit Program

Figure 7: Puppets produced for Rare Pride campaign: popular with children and adults alike.

IntroductionThe Conservation Education Campaign is focused on generally changing attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. The role of the school visit is to change the attitudes and behaviour of the young children in primary school. Such attitudes and behaviour may include a disregard of the environment due to lack of knowledge and understanding leading to killing of birds with catapult, littering, and many other negative actions towards the environment. The role of the school visit program is about increasing knowledge and awareness about the environment in terms of conservation There is an assumption that educating the young children and making them understand about the environment and the importance of conservation can bring about a change in their attitudes, which can then bring about a change in their behaviour towards the environment (Goleman, 1996; Rice, 2000). Hovland et al (1953) stated that in order for a change in attitude to occur, some sort of stimulus needs to be introduced, comprehended, and accepted. In regards to the school visit, the puppet show and costume visit can be regarded as the stimulus, and the variety of activities involved are ways to make the children understand the concept of conservation and the key messages put forward during the school visit program. To make sure that the children understand and accept the key messages during the visits, persuasive communication must be applied (Hovland et al, 1953). The main components to persuasive communication include source of information, message, context, and recipient. The speaker must be recognized to be knowledgeable about key conservation messages, must link messages to the audience’s level of


understanding and own experiences, and must make sure that a power figure shows his/her acceptance of speaker to ensure acceptance by the audience. Behaviour is not only influenced by attitude but also by external factors such as social norms (Goleman, 1996). In other words, the school visit program may be a catalyst for change but it will not be successful unless there is re-enforcement from the wider community considering it is the base of an individual’s identify and actions. In short, achieving the overall Rare Pride Campaign goal ‘To conserve the coastal flora and fauna for the sustainable benefit of Weno’s community’ requires a whole lot more than a school visit program. It requires involving the whole community and a variety of outreach programs. Ideally, follow-up activities to the school visit program such as comic books, sermon sheet, bird book, legislation leaflet and many others allows for a wider community audience, hence the potential to changing attitudes and behaviours.

Figure 8: The Chuuk Monarch hands out a badge to a school child.

Figure 9: Button badge handed to school children and other community members.


Figure 10: Story Book: reinforces key messages in a fun way for schools. It was also distributed at Early Learning Centers and throughout the community.


The Target AudienceThe school visit program was designed for children in primary school, most especially those between the ages of 7 and 15. There are several reasons this particular age group was chosen as the target audience. Firstly, they are at the age when they can think logically about objects and events and are concerned about the future (Atherton, 2002). This means that they are more likely to understand the key conservation messages conveyed to them because they have usually reached the developmental stage at which they are capable of concrete thinking and problem solving (Piaget, 1952), two key aspects of conservation. They may also be more likely to talk to their families about what they learned in school. For instance, if a child learns that we must put litter in the bin and not just anywhere, that child is likely to relay this message to his/her family. Most importantly, the child may even remind and ask his/her family to put litter in a bin if s/he sees them throwing it on the ground. Often family members may do as the child asks. Thirdly, unlike adults children of this age haven’t picked up habits that would be very difficult to change. Last but not the least, these young children include the future leaders of our home islands, and the time will come when they have to make decisions regarding the environment. It is therefore crucial that they learn about and take active roles in conservation today to help them in the future when they have to make decisions regarding the environment.

Figure 11: Local children with badges.


Figure 12: Children laughing at the puppet show.

Results from the pre-project survey (n=400) showed that 71 percent of the 141 students who were interviewed stated that they had ‘very little to no’ knowledge about the environment. In addition, environmental education is not part of the Chuuk State School System curriculum6. For these reasons, the school program focused on increasing knowledge and awareness about the environment in terms of conservation7, and most especially helping the children understand the importance of our unique environment and why we should care.

There are nine primary schools on Weno, and Sapuk and Penia Elementary Schools had no phone so the student counterpart had to drive there to set up a date. When the principal was not present, puppet scripts were given to the teachers. The student counterpart would drive up again to follow up on whether the principal accepted the show into the school or not. Neauo Elementary School was the very last to host the puppet show because the week it was to take place a tropical storm hit the island. After the storm, the student counterpart called the school, and drove to meet the principal, but he was not at the school. Although the school had already been given the puppet script weeks earlier, the principal still hadn’t assigned the students and teachers to work together for the puppet show.

The puppet show was hosted by all the primary schools in May and June except for Seventh Day Adventist School, which finished the school term earlier than most, and the only available date scheduled for the show was actually a national holiday, which the principal and student counterpart were not aware of at the time of scheduling the puppet show. In June the costume visit finally started after the arrival of the badges, and was only able to go to three schools because the rest were in the midst of preparing for graduation and final exams. The primary schools that did not get the chance to see the puppet show or the costume in May and June will be given that chance in August (see Table 1).

6 Interview with Mr. Eliot Cholymay, Environmental Advisor, Department of Education and Mr. Joseph Konno, Executive Director of EPA. January 17, 2003.7 Sub-Goal 4 in Weno Island Project Plan ‘To increase levels of children’s knowledge and awareness on environmental conservation for the benefit of Weno community’.


Table 2: List of elementary schools involved in school visit activities.Name of School Hosted Puppet Show Visited By Uwaw

Costume1. Sapuk Elementary School Yes No2. Penia Elementary School Yes No3. St. Cecilia Elementary School Yes No4. Mechitiw Elementary School Yes Yes5. Iras Demo School Yes No6. Berea Christian School Yes No7. Mwan Elementary School Yes Yes8. Neauo Elementary School Yes Yes9. Seventh Day Adventist No No

The school visitation program involved a puppet show and an Uwaw (Chuuk Monarch) costume visit. It was the first time for both activities to be part of Weno’s classroom learning so the children, including the principal, teachers and parents, were very excited about the school visitation program. It was important that the key conservation messages were clearly relayed and understood by the school children so lessons were devised according to their level of understanding. This was done so by presenting the puppet script and costume visit talk to a group of school children before the scheduled school visits, and their suggestions for change were made accordingly. It was most important to get these feedbacks from the target group in order to revise the lessons so they have a greater chance to catch the children’s curiosity 8 and hold their attention for the duration of the program.

Permission to bring the puppet show and costume visit to the public schools was granted by the Executive Director of the Chuuk School System, Mr. Kangichy Welle, after a meeting with him. Afterwards, letters informing the principals of the school visitation program were sent out to both public and private primary schools on Weno. A little while after the letters were sent out, phone calls were made to each school to set up appointments to meet with the principal and give a brief about the Conservation Education Campaign, most especially the puppet show and costume visit, and answer any questions they may have about the program.

See Appendix 1 for Puppet Scenes and Script.

Key Conservation Messages

The key conservation messages conveyed were: to pick up litter so we don’t get hurt not to cut trees especially on the mountain areas because they help protect our

homes from potential landslides, and are the home for our Uwaw (only found in Chuuk)

that we should care for the mangroves because it is where fish and mangrove crabs grow

The children were encouraged to laugh at Saru for trying to cut down the trees and chasing the Uwaw away so they understand that Saru was not doing a good thing. Clapping for Saru when he finally understood that trees are important was a way to emphasize to the children that it was a good thing that he understood and pledged not to cut the trees down.

Logistic Preparation

8 St. Augustine~400 A.D. stated, ‘we learn better in a free spirit of curiosity’.


In preparation for the puppet show at each school, the principal was given 4 copies of the puppet script and asked to choose 4 students, who will participate in the puppet show, and learn and study the script before the puppet show was to take place (see Table 2).

Table 3: Names of puppeteers from each primary school on Weno.Sapuk Elementary School Penia Elementary School1. T.N. Esah (Marco) 1. Temeron Simmy (Marco)2. Sharon Poch (Andria) 2. Lucy Albert (Andria)3. U.K. Kau (Saru) 3. Ampeny Weinei (Saru)4. Sarah Teruo (Uwaw) 4. S.V. Siluk (Uwaw)

St. Cecilia Elementary School Mechitiw Elementary School1. Children from Mwan Elementary School 1. Kay Sana (Marco)

2. Marlyn Kinu (Andria)3. Atkin Ludwig (Saru)4. Norman Samor (Uwaw)

Iras Demo School Berea Christian Elementary School1. Marvin (Marco) 1. Bryan Mori (Marco and Andria)2. Melanie (Andria) 2. Alex Choun (Saru and Uwaw)3. Atrina (Saru)4. Lorna (Uwaw)

Mwan Elementary School Neauo Elementary School1. Phoney (Marco) 1. Trison Suta (Marco)2. Sinie Sias (Andria) 2. Sasarin Raymond (Andria)3. Last Mailo (Saru) 3. Mynisia Masao (Saru)4. Elton (Uwaw) 4. Melony Ichin (Uwaw)

Seventh Day Adventist (not yet visited)

The students were given at least 3 days to practice, with the help of one of the teachers. A day before the actual puppet show, the student counterpart, who was always the narrator, along with volunteers and the students, would set up the stage and spend an hour or so practicing with the students. Usually, the puppet stage was left at the school before the puppet show the next day (see Table 3).

Table 4: Schedule of puppet show to each primary school on Weno.Name of School Rehearsal Date Puppet Show1. Mwan Elementary May 4, 2003 May 6, 20032. Iras Elementary May 6, 2003 May 7, 20033. St. Cecilia May 7, 20034. Mechitiw Elementary May 7, 2003 May 8, 20035. Seventh Day Adventist May 9, 20036. Penia/Peniesene School May 12, 2003 May 13, 20037. Berea Christian School May 148. Sapuk Elementary May 19, 2003 May 20, 20039. Neauo Elementary June 12, 2003 June 12, 2003


Puppet ShowThe puppet show always started with the principal introducing the student counterpart, the lead agency, and the purpose of the visit. This gesture alone has the ability to convey to the students, teachers, and parents that this particular activity is welcomed and encouraged in the school. The student counterpart, again, introduces herself, which agency she comes from, and the purpose of the visit. The fact that students from that particular school are the lead people (Figure 3) in the puppet show helps build pride in the school, allows the school to be equipped with the experience and skills relating to puppet shows9, and most importantly shows that anyone can learn how to do puppet shows.

Figure 13: Mary Rose back-stage with the puppeteers.

It also ensures that the student body is aware of key conservation messages in the puppet show even before it actually takes place because they would have already watched and listened to the puppeteers while they practiced. At home the puppeteers also relay the key conservation messages when family members become curious about the puppet script and start asking questions about it or even reading the puppet script themselves.

Message repetition is very important in order for people to grasp key conservation messages, and there are two examples from the puppet show that confirm that this process was followed. The first was when the principal introduced the student counterpart, which agency she was from, and the purpose of the visit, and the student counterpart repeated this again during her introductions of the puppet show. The second involved discussing the puppet stage backdrop, which showed dead trees, dead mangroves, dead fish, litter on the beach, and a dead bird. Active participation was encouraged from students by asking them about what the backdrop showed, and what we should do to make sure this does not continue to happen in our home islands.

The content of the puppet script discussed the same issues and suggestions on how to care for our environment. Before the puppet show ends, the school song which states that it is time for us to show that we care for our homes, and that we should work together for a better environment by planting trees and picking up litter, also repeats the same message. Then at the very end of the puppet show, when the backdrop changes to a healthy environment, the student counterpart asks the students to explain why the picture shown is now healthy. The students would then answer because Andria and Marco picked up the litter on the beach, Saru stopped cutting down trees, the mangroves were well cared for, and we took care of our Uwaw. The children were also asked

9 Conservation Education is about ‘equipping people with the ‘right tools for the job’.


about what the key conservation messages were and what they understand about them. By asking the students questions regarding the puppet show, they were encouraged to draw on their own conclusions, which is a very important part of education10.

Verbal Feedback from the students and teachers was that they loved the puppet show but it was too short. The puppet script will be revised and made longer for the next show in August. From watching the video tapes of the puppet shows, it was obvious that the puppeteers hadn’t really mastered handling the puppets. Oftentimes you would hear Andria talking to Marco and vice versa, but you wouldn’t see the puppet’s mouth moving. Other instances would be Marco talking to Saru, but not facing him, long pauses between each dialoque when one of the puppeteers loses concentration and is not sure what his/her next line is though the paper is right in front of him/her, and other simple things like not raising the puppets high enough for the audience to see. These situations are an indication that not enough rehearsal was given to the puppeteers so in August the puppeteers will be given more than a few hours, ideally 2 days, to practice using the puppet stage and puppets.

Figure 14: Some of the student puppeteers.

10 Galileo (1564-1642) stated, ‘you cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself’.


Costume ActivitiesThe costume visit presentation took about an hour. It started out the same as the puppet show, where the principal introduced the student counterpart. The students were then asked to name all the birds they knew, and they were very excited that they actually knew the names of the birds. The students were, of course, asked to raise their hands before answering any questions, and when they did so they were given a badge11. It was obvious that the students who raised their hands were more interested in receiving a badge than actually answering the question asked, and surely this is not the most effective way to change behaviour12. This was very obvious in Mwan Elementary School when as soon as student counterpart showed the badges to be given out to those who answered questions, so many hands were raised.

Figure 15: Students at Mwan wanting to answer questions.

The highlight of the costume visit was the Uwaw dancing around and giving out badges to the children who answered questions, regardless of whether the answer was correct or wrong. This way the children are encouraged to take active participation in the presentations. It was important that the student counterpart made sure to give the children the correct answer to the question.

The very first visit was at Mechitiw Elementary School, where the children were asked to name the bird described by the student counterpart. It was difficult for the children to know identify the birds without any pictures. For this reason, drawings of the birds included in the presentations were prepared by the Xavier High School volunteers for the next visit, which was at Neauo Elementary School (Figure 5). Having the drawings of the birds really made a big difference. Once shown to the children, they were quick to identify and name of the bird.

11 Positive reinforcement through reward.12 Gagne et al. 1992 ‘it is better to stimulate ‘deep’ rather than ‘shallow’ approaches to learning’ because people will understand more and are likely to change behaviour.


Figure 16: Student showing classmates a drawing of the Micronesian Honeyeater.

A tape of the school song was given to the principal before the costume visit. We only had to play the song at Mwan and Neauo Elementary schools and everyone sang loudly and clearly.

Figure 17: School children learning the school song.


Figure 18: Singing the song!

Key MessagesThe key conservation message was to re-iterate the importance of conservation. This particular presentation, though, focused more on birds as our friends and why we should take care of them. The Cardinal Honeyeater was mentioned as a great pollinator who helps trees bear fruits and plants have flowers. The Micronesian Starling was mentioned as a great helper in showing us where the ripe fruits are. The Island Swiflet ate hundreds of flies and mosquitoes everyday so we must take care of them. Basically, each bird was identified and significance to our everyday lives, our culture and most especially to our environment as seed dispersants was discussed. The discussions were a way to tell the children that we should not kill the birds with our catapult but rather take care of them.

The ApproachBecause conservation education is about problem solving in the real world (Gagne et al, 1992), the school program activities were made to fit real situations particular to Weno. Taking into account that environmental education would be a new subject to most of the children, the presentations had to be simple enough and in line with their levels of understanding. The concept of conservation was compared to a cup and a pitcher full of water. Conservation is making sure that the water in the pitcher is always full so whenever the cup is filled and emptied, there is still water to pour out of the pitcher. But if we keep pouring water out of the pitcher and never refill it, we will have no water to pour into the cup and no water to drink. This ‘cup and pitcher’ concept was used to draw a picture of how it will be if we do not take care of the environment, there will be nothing left. This concept was further supported by mentioning the mechen or local practice of closing off an entire area where hunting for food or harvesting any plants or trees is not permitted for a certain time so to allow that particular area to recuperate. Another example used was the seasonal closure of turtle hunting and why this is done. These are two examples of normative influences or social norms, cultural traditions, and family customs incorporated in the costume presentation so the children clearly understand the significance of conservation for the environment (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002).


It was also very important to know and understand the children’s backgrounds so key conservation messages could relate closely to their own experiences. In July 2002 tropical storm Cha’atan hit Chuuk and many people died as a result of the landslides that occurred. This event was presented to explain to the children that if the trees and soil were left intact in those particular areas, the landslides would not have occurred. It was also explained that birds have a significant role in preventing landslides because they carry seeds and help plant trees in hard to reach areas, especially up in the mountains.

To explain how mangroves protect us from strong winds and waves, specific examples from each village was used. For example, the presentation at Mwan Elementary pointed out that most of the village houses that were destroyed by Typhoon Pongsona in December 2002 were those not surrounded by mangroves. To make this point even clearer, we had the children think of a very windy day when they walked down to Menrose Bakery13 to buy bread. The question asked was, ‘When you reach Menrose Bakery, what happens to the wind?’. The children then answer that they feel no wind at all. When they are asked why they feel no wind, they answer that the mangroves act as barrier. By giving the children scenarios and allowing them to draw their own conclusions, they were more likely to be convinced about what they’ve learned (self-persuasion approach).

ConclusionThe school visit program was all about increasing the children’s knowledge and awareness about the environment as a way to make them understand why and how they should care about the environment, and what actions to be taken. It is true that the children would be more willing to change their attitudes and behaviour once they see that things can be made better. This is why it is very important that in addition to the puppet shows and costume visits, follow up activities such as an environmental club be established so the children can experience first hand the benefits of environmental conservation as a way to convince them to change their attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. Titman (1994) stated that children are very sensitive to hypocrisy and are adept critics of gaps between policy and practice so as conservation educators we must ensure that we practice what we preach.

13 Menrose Bakery is so blocked off by mangroves that you can hardly feel any breeze from the ocean.


Photos of Conservation Education Activities:

Figure 19: Billboard, produced by Xavier High School, and placed in town center.


Figure 20: Sermon Sheet – Distributed to Communities.


Figure 21: Poster produced for Conservation Education Campaign, using flagship species, the Chuuk Monarch, to spread important key messages.


Figure 22: Fact Sheet produced for Pride Campaign. Given to general public and school children.


The Results

The results are broadly divided into two categories:

Changes in Knowledge, Perception, and Attitudes Objectives; Action Oriented/ Behaviour Change Objectives.

Figure 23: Mary Rose Nakayama (center) with questionnaire survey enumerators.


Changes in Knowledge, Perceptions, Attitudes

Results from the pre- and post- campaign surveys were compared in order to measure changes in Weno community’s perceptions and knowledge about the Chuuk Monarch and the environment.

See Appendix 2 for a copy of the actual questionnaire.

There were about 400 questionnaires analysed for the pre-campaign survey while there were only 344 survey results for the post-campaign survey. The population of Weno island is 16,000 so about 2.5 % of this population was taken as the sample size (n = 400). These results were also used to indicate how closely the campaign’s goal and objectives were reached.

Also included in the pre- and post- campaign surveys was the control group that involved 50 survey questionnaires. In this case the Faichuk islands were the control group because they are the furthest group of islands from Weno. It takes about 2 hours boat ride to get to the islands. The control group had to have no direct link at all to the campaign activities. Although the Faichuk islands were not visited by the campaign, the people would still have heard about the campaign through the radio, through friends and relatives living on Weno, through the materials if someone had taken them down to the islands, and also when they come to the main island for work, school, or shopping. In this case, the control group is not entirely ignorant of the ongoing campaign, and therefore was not effective as a control.

The goal for the Weno island campaign is “To conserve the coastal flora and fauna of Weno for the sustainable benefit of its community”. There were many objectives for the Weno Project Plan and they targeted the changes in perception and knowledge of the general public and school children.

Below is a summary of the results and analysis of the comparison between pre- and post- campaign survey in regards to each specific objective.


Graph set a. Question: How much do you know about the Environment of Weno ? (data shows responses from farmers).

TARGET GROUP CONTROL GROUP

RE-

CA

MPA

IGN

POST

-CA

MPA

IGN


Objective 1: By the end of the project the percentage of farmers who state that they know ‘nothing’ or ‘very little’ about the environment will have declined from 33.3 % and 27.8 % respectively to below 15 %.

The survey data indicates that farmers felt they had greater environmental knowledge, after the campaign (see graph set a). Those who reported having “None” was reduced from 33 % down to 28 %. However, the sample size of farmers was too small to provide significant data here (only 18 farmers interviewed).

However – when the general public were asked specific questions about the environment, it was clear that there was a significant increase in local environmental knowledge, as a result of the Pride campaign. See next set of graphs (graph set b).

Interestingly, the control group showed the greatest change in levels of self-reported knowledge in regards to Weno’s environment. I believe the reasons for this are because they would have heard of the campaign through the radio, by seeing the posters when they travel to Weno, and by talking with people exposed to the campaign. Also the control group consists of 1 or 2 villages in the Faichuk islands so if one or two people have heard about the campaign, they would have talked about it to the others and the whole community would have already heard about the campaign. So, the ideal control group would have to be outside Chuuk state where they do not hear so often about what is going on in the islands.

Therefore the control group was not effective as a control, because they WERE inadvertently exposed to the conservation education campaign.


Graph set b. Question: Can you name a bird found on Weno, which is only found here in Chuuk state (endemic)? If so, what is it? (data shows responses from the general public).


PRE-

CA

MPA

IGN

POST

-CA

MPA

IGN

Note that answers given by less than 2 % of respondents are not shown above.


Objective 2: By the end of the project, 40 % of the general public (up from 1.5 %) will be able to name one bird endemic to Chuuk and also found on Weno.

This objective was exceeded. Although, many interviewees had previously stated that they had only a little knowledge about Weno’s environment, they would answer questions pertaining to the endemic bird and importance of birds correctly. There was an increase of 50 % amongst the general public who named the Uwaw (Chuuk Monarch) as endemic to Chuuk (from 1.5 % to 52 %) (see graph b).

Some people could have been modest by saying they did not know much when actually they did. As shown by the question about endemic species, it is more useful to actually test people’s knowledge with specific questions about the environment, rather than asking them about their own perceived level of knowledge.


Graph set c. Question: State ONE reason Weno's birds are important. (data shows responses from the general public).


PRE-

CA

MPA

IGN

POST

-CA

MPA

IGN

Note that answers given by less than 2 % of respondents are not shown above.


Objective 3: By the end of the project, there will be a 20 % increase (up from 4.8 %) in the general public who know that birds are important for seed dispersal and forest rehabilitation.

Before the Pride campaign, only 4.8 % of respondents stated “Forest Rehabilitation (through seed dispersal)” as one of the reasons why birds are important. After the campaign, this increased to 16 % (an increase of 11 %).

This is a significantly positive result.

Announcements in regards to the Uwaw project would have reached the control group through radio. This contributed to the change in knowledge of the general public in the control group.


Graph set d. Question: Over the past 6 months have you heard about environmental conservation through any of the following? (data shows 114 students responses, which is 28.5 % of total interviewed)

PRE-CAMPAIGN POST-CAMPAIGN


Objective 4: By the end of the Pride Campaign, there will be a 10 % reduction in schoolchildren on Weno (from 20 % to 10 %) who report having heard “nothing” about the environment over the previous 6 months. This objective was almost reached. The results from the pre- and post-campaign surveys showed that there was a decrease in the percentage of students who stated that they had heard ‘nothing’ about conservation in the previous 6 months, from 20 % to 12 %. Furthermore, there was an increase in the percentage of students who stated that they had heard about conservation through school visits, posters, and family and friends.


Graph set e. Question: Can you name a bird found on Weno, which is only found here in Chuuk state (endemic)? If so, what is it? (student respondents data shown below)


Note: Pre-Campaign graph above shows result from 114 students responses (28.5 % of total interviewed). Post-campaign date is from 132 students, which is 38 % of the total respondents)


Objective 5: By the end of the Pride Campaign, there will be a 40 % increase in schoolchildren (from 1 % up to 41 %) who will be able to name the Chuuk Monarch as being an example of a Chuukese endemic species.

This objective was exceeded, with a 56 % increase from 1 % up to 57 % of those students who named the Chuuk Monarch (The Flagship species - known locally as the Uwaw) as an endemic to Chuuk.

There was a corresponding 53 % decrease in students (from 88 % to 35 %) who stated that they did not know the name of a bird endemic to Chuuk.


Graph set f. Question: Name a place here on Weno that could be set aside as a protected area because it is intact and a great diversity of coastal forests and wildlife. (data shows responses from the general public).



Graph set g. Question: What is the Cultural significance of this bird (The Chuuk Monarch)? (data shows responses from the general public).



Additional Signs of Success

As well as the results relating to knowledge and attitude objectives, in looking at the two graph sets (f & g) above, there were additional successes in changes if knowledge and attitude.

Firstly, there was a 14 % increase in the general public, who made positive suggestions for location of new protected areas in Chuuk (those who said “Don’t Know, decreased from 74 % down to 60 %).

In addition, those who gave reasons for the cultural significance of the Chuukese Monarch, increased by 33 % (those who said “Don’t Know” decreased from 88 % down to 55 %).


Action Oriented/ Behaviour Change Objectives

Objective 6: By month 7 a map of the proposed Nature Reserve (Sapuk, Peidiu, and Epinup) will have been created and presented to the local government and community.

Not yet reached – due to need for step by step process – but will be carried out as a follow up activity to the campaign.

The signing of the petition by the local community members was the first thing to focus in to confirm that the community supports the idea of establishing a nature reserve. It, therefore, makes sense to obtain the petition (now complete), present it to the state legislature for action (next step), and afterwards work on creating a map. Also, community meetings need to be set up in order to discuss where the proposed nature reserve should be. The mangrove areas are owned by members of the community so it is very important to hear their ideas and reasons for wanting a nature reserve, then work from there. Once the plan of action is sorted out with the community and help with the mapping exercise is obtained from related departments and organizations, then the mapping can begin. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and TNC Office are most likely to help with the mapping.

Objective 7: By month 8, 40 % of adults from the local community will have signed a petition supporting the creation of a mangrove nature reserve and this petition will be presented to the State legislature for action.

This objective was reached, giving a successful result.

According to the Chuuk Census of 2000, the population of Epinup is about 400. This means that one would need about 160 signatures in order to reach the goal of 40 % of adults from the local community. As of March 3, 2004 about 150 signatures (from 38 % of the adult local community) have been obtained. Further actions needed include a meeting with the Epinup community to discuss how to go about presenting the petition to the state legislature for action, and plans to establish the mangrove nature reserve.

Figure 24: A sample page from the petition.


Objective 8: By month 10 a letter of support from Weno local government to pursue the establishment of the proposed mangrove nature reserve will have been signed.

This objective has not yet been reached – due to the need for a step-by-step process – but will be carried out as a follow up activity to the campaign.

Once the petition from the local community is presented to the state legislature then action to get a letter of support from the local government will be pursued. The letter will state that the local government will help the local community should they need technical advice and other expertise that can be provided by the government.

Objective 9: In 3 years from the end of 2003 a local community-based Mangrove Management Council for the proposed Nature Reserve (Sapuk, Peidiu, and Epinup) will have been established.

This objective is still in progress, and due for completion by the end of 2006, for Epinup only.

It was decided by the Pride Campaign Advisory Council to focus mainly on the Epinup community, as it would take a lot of time and effort to include the other 2 communities of Sapuk and Peidiu. The hope is to get the nature reserve established in Epinup as a pilot project, and once it is established the next 2 communities will be included. The community-based Mangrove Management Council needs to include a group that is already established and working well together. It is then most likely that this Council will be build upon the Church Council of Epinup so to decrease the amount of time and effort that would be needed to establish a whole new council.

Objective 10: In 3 to 4 years from the end of 2003 the proposed Nature Reserve (Sapuk, Peidiu, and Epinup) will have been fully established.

This objective is in progress – objective completion due 2006, for Epinup only. The Conservation Society of Pohnpei (CSP) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Pohnpei is the closest conservation NGO to Weno Island so it is most likely that I will be working closely with them. Also, CSP has been very successful in establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Pohnpei so they have the experience, knowledge, and expertise to help with the establishment of the Epinup nature reserve.

I have a good working relationship with both organizations and they have always been very supportive of establishing conservation efforts in Chuuk so it would not be difficult to work together with them. Kosrae State also has experience in establishing a mangrove nature reserve so I will be in contact with the Director of the conservation NGO there as well.


Objective 11: In 5 years from the end of 2003 the local community will have established a mangrove zoning law to designate certain areas for use and areas to be left untouched.

This objective is in progress – and now due for completion 2008, for Epinup.

Once the nature reserve has been fully established, then the zoning law could be put in place as well. We would need help from Kosrae most especially since they already have a zoning law in place for the mangrove nature reserve. Establishing a good working relationship with the Kosrae conservation NGO is one of the important actions to take to ensure the success of the nature reserve in Epinup.

Objective 12: By the end of the campaign, 2 community clean up days will have been held involving at least 1,000 people.

This objective has been exceeded, with excellent results.

The first clean up event took place in July 2003 and more than 200 participants showed up. About 60 participants were involved in the town cleanup event while the rest of the participants cleaned up in their own areas. The participants included members of the EPA, Chuuk Visitor’s Bureau, COM-FSM, Chuuk campus, Xavier High School, Peace Corps Volunteer, Truk Stop Hotel, Youth groups, and other members of the community.

The second clean up event took place in November and I believe that the number of participants had reached about 3,000 or more. This is because all the public primary and secondary schools all over Chuuk State plus COM-FSM, Chuuk campus got involved as well as other organizations such as Women’s Council, Peace Corps Volunteers, Youth groups, government offices, members of some community groups, and many others.

The Director of Chuuk State School System wrote a memorandum to all the schools in Chuuk in all 40 municipalities and asked them to join in our efforts to keep our schools and islands clean. One of the primary schools, Iras Demo School, has a student population of around 800. This school alone has already made up about 80 % of the targeted number of people to involve in the clean-up events.

Objective 13: By the end of the campaign 50 % of community leaders will be asked to pledge that community clean up days will become a regular feature.

This objective has not yet been achieved but will be carried out in follow-up activities.

This idea of asking the community leaders to pledge that community clean up days become a regular feature was never introduced to the communities. A good working relationship with the Mayor’s office was not fully established, because of political reasons at that particular time, so the channels for reaching out to the 20 community leaders were not created.

Since working on the campaign I have now identified the key people to work with to set up for the community meetings. Once community meetings have been set up and have actually taken place, working to get support for regular clean up days in the villages will be in progress.


Objective 14: By the end of the campaign there will have been set up a new Environmental Club, which will have at least 200 school children as active members, all of who will have undertaken at least one environmental activity (including planting a native tree species).

Although the environmental club had not been established during the campaign, I will be working with the principal, teachers, and students of Mechitiw Elementary School to set it up. It has been decided that one environmental club will be set up first in this one school and once it is fully established it can be moved on to include all other schools.


Recommendations

As well as pursuing the completion of objectives as outlined in the results section, the following recommendations are made.

Environmental Law

Studies have shown that the best way to promote work in environmental conservation and legislation is to work through the environment (Gilman, 1997). There was a study done in Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia where the government tried to grow giant clams but did not succeed because people continued to harvest them (Goldman, 1994). The government took a new approach, which included the villages growing their own giant clams, and this worked out well.

The government provided technical and financial assistance and the caring and patrolling of the giant clams was left to the village. This is a case where it showed that working at the community level works best. Considering that the government does not have enough funds to buy patrol boats and pay for employee’s salary to work overtime, it is better to work with the communities to implement the environmental legislations, most especially the sections in our constitutions. Furthermore, it is difficult to patrol all activities that happen on our lands and in our waters so it is recommended that we establish community environmental councils where they will start up protected areas. These protected areas would be for the protection and recuperation of terrestrial and marine life. The mechen and pwau should be encouraged to be used more often as in the past.

Environmental institutes have been established here in the FSM and we should take advantage of them. The Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT) is a financial institute here in the FSM that has the mission of providing sustained funding for the environment of FSM and its people. Starting January 2004 they will be accepting proposals from communities and organizations that want to participate in conservation of the environment. The FSM National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan has already been completed and now the state BSAP will be written up in 200414. All these environmental activities have been encouraged and assisted by TNC, and the fact that the FSM, including Chuuk State, is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (Federated States of Micronesia, 2001). Now that the environmental documents and institutions have been set up, it is now time to put them in action. And the first step to putting the environmental plans and incentives into action is letting the communities know about such actions so they will give their support and participation.

Selection of SpeciesTo ensure that the protection of the Chuuk Monarch and its surrounding habitats becomes a success, any conservation goal has to involve a broader management of its island ecosystems. Walter (1998) stresses that conservation efforts should solicit political and legislative support, and build educational programmes to engender the interest and support of island peoples. Lastly, conservation efforts should include rigorous habitat protection (large and close to source of biodiversity is highly recommended), pest/predator control, breeding in captivity, and translocation and release (Didham and Lawton, 1999).

14 Personal communication, O. Ehmes, Coordinator NBSAP, FSM. December 2003.


Field Survey WorkThe protection of the habitats where the Chuuk Monarch is found is the best management practice. The local people need to understand the importance of the mangroves and native forests to their own livelihoods.

Through education, the local people are already beginning to understand that it is important that the mangroves and native forests be intact, not only for the wildlife, but for the human population as well. Without mangroves, the fish that the local people depend so much on will have no place to breed, grow and feed. This will lead to having very limited to no fish in the sea. Without the native forests the watershed will be destroyed and the people will have no source of water. The environment is a big circle of life. Protect it and we protect ourselves. Destroy it and we destroy ourselves.


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AcknowledgementsA big ‘Kinisou Chapur’ to volunteers Toku Sias, Eldon Eichy, and Kait Potun from Mwan village for their great help during the Chuuk Monarch survey exercise out in the field.

The materials for the puppets and puppet stage were donated by Deal Fair Store, and sewed by Ms. Murae Alaph. The puppet stage was constructed by Innocen (maintenance and repair) and Edson Asito (media technician) from the College of Micronesia-FSM, Chuuk campus. The curtains for the puppet stage were donated by Truk Stop Hotel. Special thanks to the volunteers to the puppet show activities (see Table 5).

Table 5: Thanks to the following volunteers for the puppet show activities:Place NamesBrought Puppet Theater to St. Cecilia Elementary School

Chris Osawa (COM-FSM15)Switer (COM-FSM)

Helped set up St. Cecilia Elementary School Puppet Show Theater and danced to the school song

Set up at Mechitiw Elementary

Bryan Mori (COM-FSM)Aimy Luka (COM-FSM)Sereny Cholymay (COM-FSM)Vivian Welle (COM-FSM)Paulis Namio (COM-FSM)

Helped set up Puppet Theater at Iras Demo School

Puppeteers from Mwan Elementary School

Video taped Puppet shows at the schools Alex Choun (COM-FSM)

Materials left at each school visited included a tape of the school song (sung by Jayrene Dobich), the Uwaw poster (thanks to D. Pratt, A. Boone, MicroPC in Chuuk, Sanford Morioka from Edwards Enterprises in Hawaii, Cholymay family, and Fr. Jim Croghan), a poster of the Forest and Sea Birds of the Federated States of Micronesia, which was bought from the Pohnpei Public Library and donated by Gaye Fugate of New York, and badges to the students (MicroPC in Chuuk and Edhorn in the States). Ms. Gigi from Achina’s Tailor Shop sewed the Uwaw costume. Also special thanks to the volunteers to the project (see Table 6).

Table 5: Thank you to volunteers for the costume visit activities:Names Roles1. Kaye Taylor (Peace Corps Volunteer) Dressed as Uwaw at Mechitiw 2. Sami Aisek (Xavier High student) Helped out at Mechitiw

Helped out at NeauoHelped with Bird Drawings

3. Jacob Konno (Xavier High student) Helped with School song at MwanDressed as Uwaw at NeauoMain artist for Bird DrawingsHelped with school song at Sapuk

4. Melvin (Xavier High student) Helped with school song at MwanPhotographer at MwanHelped with Bird DrawingsHelped with Bird Presentations at Neauo

5. Charity Irons (Xavier High student) Dressed as Uwaw at MwanHelped with school song at SaukHelped with Bird Presentations at Neauo

6. Dalina Alafanso (Xavier High student) Helped with school song at NeauoHelped with Bird Presentations at Neauo

7. Edson Asito (Media, COM-FSM Chk) Video taped presentations at Mechitiw8. Johnny Mendive (PCV, COM-FSM Chk) Video taped presentation at Mechitiw

Special thanks to RARE Center for Tropical Conservation and the College of Micronesia-FSM Chuuk for making the Rare Pride Campaign possible.

15 COM-FSM = College of Micronesia, Chuuk Campus.


Appendices

Appendix 1 - The Puppet Show ScriptThe puppet show took about 45 minutes, including introductions, the puppet show, and questions at the end. The characters in the puppet show were Marco, the Chuukese boy, Andria, the tourist from USA, Saru, the Chuukese farmer, and Uwaw, the Chuuk Monarch (see Appendix Figure 1).

Appendix Figure 1: (left to right): Marco, Saru, Uwaw, and Andria.

The puppet script starts out with the puppets each introducing themselves and who they are. Afterwards, they all say their goodbyes to the children and all go ‘down’ stage.

The Presentation:

Scene I shows Andria whistling and walking along the beach. Then she yells out after cutting her foot on something sharp. She sat down and was crying from the pain in her foot when she saw a boy picking up litter on the beach. Marco comes up to her greets her hello, and is surprised when Andria greets her back in the local language, and asks if he’s from Chuuk. Marco then looks out to the audience and whispers to them that he is so surprised that the tourist can actually speak Chuukese, then turns to Andria and tells her that he’s from Chuuk. They became good friends and helped each other clean up the litter on the beach.

Scene II starts out with the narrator explaining that it was morning (chicken crows), and that Andria was still sleeping (snoring, snoring)16. Marco knocks on the door (knock, knock, knock) and tells Andria to get up because they were going hiking up on the mountain. Andria gets up and tells Marco to wait because she needs to brush her teeth.17.

When Marco and Andria go up on the mountain they hear lots of birds singing (sounds of birds). As they walk further they meet up with Saru the farmer. He shouts at them and tells them to go away because he was going to cut down the big tree (sound of chainsaw). Uwaw is flapping his wings begging Saru not to cut down his home. Saru is persistent and shouts at Uwaw to go away then chases after the poor bird. The bird gets scared and flies away. Andria then asks the children to say boo to Saru for chasing Uwaw. When the children do this, Saru starts to sob.

16 The children always laugh out loud whenever they heard Andria snoring so loudly.17 One of the puppeteers from Mwan Elementary School inserted the ‘brushing teeth’ situation in the script. This is also another part where the children find funny and laugh out loud.


Marco and Andria then start explaining to Saru that the bird is special because he is only found here in Chuuk. Saru is convinced and shouts at them to go away. Marco then explains to Saru that by cutting down the trees on the mountain, he is increasing the chances that a landslide will occur and destroy his home situated at the bottom of the mountain. When Saru heard this, he thanked Marco and Andria because he now knows that trees are important. Andria then asks the children to applaud Saru because he is smart because he now understands why trees are important to us.

Scene III shows Marco and Andria playing in the mangrove area when Andria spots Uwaw and asks Marco if it is really Uwaw. Uwaw then speaks out loud and explains to Andria and the children the he lives in the mountain forests and also in the mangroves. Marco then asks Andria if she knew that Uwaw eats mosquitoes and lizards, and she answers that she now knew. Marco then asks the children who likes to eat fish then they would answer ‘Me!’. He then asks who likes to eat mangrove crabs, and the children would answer ‘Me!’. Uwaw then explains that we should care for our mangroves because it is the place for our fish and mangrove crabs to grow. Andria then tells the children that they should go home and tell their family about what they learned today. Uwaw then asks the children to join him in saying ‘Love Chuuk’ very loudly. Saru comes on scene and asks the children to clap. When they do so, the backdrop is changed to a healthy environment scene. All the puppets would say ‘We love you’ to all the children, then the school song would play. This is when the puppets start dancing, and the children, teachers, and parents are encouraged to stand up and dance.


Appendix 2 - The Questionnaire Survey

WENO ISLAND ASSESSMENT SURVEY

(1) What is your sex? (FILL IN BOX WITHOUT ASKING)[ ] Female [ ] Male

(2) Which age group do you fall under? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Under 10 [ ] 10-19 [ ] 20-29 [ ] 30-39 [ ] 40-49 [ ] 50-59

[ ] 60-70 [ ] Over 70

(3) In which village here on Weno do you currently live? (WRITE IN THE NAME OF THE PLACE. IF DOESN'T LIVE ON WENO, THEN WRITE 'DOESN'T LIVE ON WENO')________________

(4) Which island are you originally from? (WRITE IN THE NAME OF THE PLACE)________________

(5) What is your primary (MAIN) job? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Government employee [ ] Environmental conservation officer [ ] Private sector i.e. store employee, taxi driver [ ] Teacher [ ] Farming or agriculture

[ ] Fishing [ ] Student in school or college [ ] Housewife/mother[ ] Mining industry [ ] Landfill [ ] Retired [ ] Unemployed [ ] No

answer [ ] Other ________________

(6) What is your highest level of education? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] None [ ] Elementary [ ] High School [ ] College [ ] University

(7) Who do you trust the MOST to give you accurate and true information about threats to the environment of Weno? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Radio [ ] TV [ ] Newspapers [ ] Law enforcement officials [ ] Community leaders [ ] Religious leaders [ ] Government employee [ ] Environmental conservation officer [ ] Friends and Family [ ] Local Politicians [ ] Teachers [ ] No one [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(8) How much do you know about the environment of Weno? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] None [ ] Very little [ ] Little [ ] Some [ ] A lot

(9) Do you believe that the environment of Weno should be protected? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care


(10) Do you usually listen to the radio at least once per week? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know

(11) When you listen to the radio on WEEKDAYS, what are your preferred listening times? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] 6:00-8:00 a.m. [ ] 8:01-10:00 a.m. [ ] 10:01-12:00 noon[ ] 12:01-2:00 p.m.

[ ] 2:01-4:00 p.m. [ ] 4:01-6:00 p.m. [ ] 6:01-8:00 p.m. [ ] 8:01-10:00 p.m. [ ] 10:01-12:00 midnight [ ] Throughout the day [ ] Don't listen to the radio [ ] Don't know

(12) When you listen to the radio on WEEKENDS, what are your preferred listening times? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] 6:00-8:00 a.m. [ ] 8:01-10:00 a.m. [ ] 10:01-12:00 noon[ ] 12:01-2:00 p.m.

[ ] 2:01-4:00 p.m. [ ] 4:01-6:00 p.m. [ ] 6:01-8:00 p.m. [ ] 8:01-10:00 p.m. [ ] 10:01-12:00 midnight [ ] Throughout the day [ ] Don't listen to the radio [ ] Don't know

(13) Do you usually read some or all of a newspaper at least once a week? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know

(14) Which newspaper do you usually prefer to read? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Pacific Daily News [ ] Kaselehlie Press [ ] COM-FSM Island Times Newspaper [ ] Pia Palau [ ] Don't read newspaper [ ] Other ________________

(15) What do you use Weno's coastal forests for ? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] For water [ ] For hunting [ ] For firewood [ ] for recreation [ ] For collecting local medicine [ ] For wildlife [ ] For Mining (e.g. rock and soil) [ ] For wood (e.g. build house, handicraft) [ ] For food [ ] All of the above [ ] No benefit [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care [ ] Other ________________

(16) Which of the following factors seriously affect coastal forests and wildlife on Weno? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] Cutting wood for fuel [ ] Fire [ ] Hunting [ ] Clearing for farming [ ] Collecting medicinal plants [ ] Littering [ ] Mining (e.g. soil and rock) [ ] Landfill [ ] Dredging [ ] Pollution [ ] Don't know [ ] None [ ] Other ________________

(17) Which THREE (3) of these factors would you rank as the greatest threats to the coastal forests and wildlife of Weno? (RANK FROM MOST SERIOUS TO LESS SERIOUS)________________


(18) Which of the following factors seriously affect the coastal forests and wildlife of Weno? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] Need for cash [ ] Complex land ownership [ ] Lack of zoning law

[ ] Lack of environmental awareness [ ] Lack of law enforcement[ ] Lack of proper waste management [ ] Environmentally unfriendly attitude

[ ] Construction [ ] Development [ ] Poor land management and legislation [ ] Lack of alternatives [ ] Don't know [ ] None [ ] Other ________________

(19) Which THREE of the factors above would you rank as the greatest threats to the coastal forests and wildlife of Weno? (RANK FROM MOST SERIOUS TO LESS SERIOUS)________________

(20) Do you think Weno's birds are important? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(21) State ONE reason Weno's birds would be important (ONE ANSWER ONLY. IF DON'T KNOW THEN WRITE 'DON'T KNOW')________________

(22) Can you name a bird found on Weno which is only found here in Chuuk state (endemic)? If so, what is it? (WRITE ONE ANSWER ONLY. IF DON'T KNOW, THEN WRITE 'DON'T KNOW')________________

(23) Is there a particular cultural significance to this bird? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know

(24) If so, what is the cultural significance of this bird? (ONE ANSWER ONLY. IF DON'T KNOW, THEN WRITE 'DON'T KNOW')________________

(25) Should there be a legislation put in place for the protection of birds and their habitat on Weno? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(26) Do you believe that some lands on Weno should be set aside for the preservation of its coastal forests and wildlife? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(27) Name a place here on Weno that could be set aside as a protected area because it is intact and a great diversity of coastal forests and wildlife. (WRITE ONE ANSWER ONLY. IF DON'T KNOW, THEN WRITE DON'T KNOW)________________


(28) Do you think there should be a 'zoning law' established so that human activities can be regulated in different areas for the protection of the coastal forests and wildlife? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(29) Should the people of Weno establish an independent organization for the protection of the environment? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(30) Do you think the government should be doing MORE or LESS to protect our environment? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Much less [ ] Less [ ] More [ ] Much more [ ] Don't know

(31) Do you think the Chuuk government (both state and municipal) should allocate some money each year for the protection of the environment? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(32) How much money PER YEAR do you suggest the government should allocate for the protection of the environment? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Less $100,000 [ ] $100,000-$500,000 [ ] $500,001-$1,000,000 [ ] More than $1,000,000 [ ] Don't know

(33) Would you be willing to donate one day of your time this year to an environmental conservation activity in your community? (ONE ANSWER ONLY)[ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Don't know

(34) If you are willing to contribute to the protection of the coastal forests and wildlife of Weno, which of the following activities might you be willing to do? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] Pick up litter [ ] Plant a tree [ ] Donate money [ ] Help establish a nature reserve [ ] Report an illegal environmental activity [ ] Sign a petition supporting the environment [ ] Join a conservation group [ ] Talk to a family member about a conservation issue [ ] All of the above [ ] None of the above [ ] Don't know [ ] Don't care

(35) Over the past 6 months have you heard about environmental conservation through any of the following? (ONE ANSWER OR MORE)[ ] Radio [ ] TV [ ] Newspapers [ ] Community visits [ ] School visits

[ ] Posters [ ] Billboards [ ] Songs [ ] Comics [ ] Sermons [ ] Friends/Family [ ] Not heard anything [ ] Don't know


Contacts

Mary Rose Nakayama, Pride Campaign Manager, College of [email protected] or [email protected]

Mr. Joakim Jojo Peter. Director, College of Micronesia, Chuuk [email protected]

Rosemary Godfrey, Course Manager, Rare [email protected]

Megan Hill, Senior Director of Global [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]





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