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Conservation benefit: Protection of 24-acre mangrove forest as no-take area for 15 years

Community benefit: Community water system: pipes and catchments

Date Approved: 06.2016

Mangroves

This project protects mangroves, which trap more CO2 than any other kind of forest and as a result, slow global warming.

The village of Rang is located on beautiful Yap, one of the four island states that make up the Federated States of Micronesia. Most of the Rang’s 200 residents make a living from very small-scale farming and fishing. Many of the younger people have left to find jobs abroad.

Next to the village is a mangrove forest, which serves as a crucial storm barrier and nursery for reef fish. The community will protect the mangroves, forbidding tree cutting. No fishing or crabbing will be permitted, and no clams, birds, or bats will be hunted. The community will strictly enforce these rules  through the local traditional rulers, who make the final decisions on all community-wide actions.

Seacology is funding a community water system. It will serve the community as climate change, and a severe drought driven by this year’s strong El Niño, make the freshwater supply more precarious. The village will repair the main water tank and install 1,000-gallon tanks at the village’s 11 households. Two community buildings will also get tanks.

Village residents will also erect large signs at the protected mangrove area, setting out the rules of the area. The community also plans to reach out to neighboring communities, letting them know about the new protected area, and to schoolchildren. Our project partner, the local nonprofit organization YapCAP, has successfully helped communities with other Seacology projects on the island.

Project Updates

May 2018

Every household in the community is now receiving water through the new storage and delivery system.

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January 2018

Most of the work has been completed. Water is being collected from an underground source and stored in a tank. Every household in the community now has a water catchment tank, and most of them have been connected to the water storage and delivery system. The community also has bought materials for two signs that it plans to put up in the village. The forest is being protected.

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May 2017

The community is still waiting for delivery of the supplies necessary to complete the water tank in the forest, which collects water for the village. The mangrove forest is being protected.

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January 2017

The main water tank in the village, which will store water for each family, is complete. The 13 smaller tanks for each household have been purchased, and bases will be constructed for them next. The community has ordered the supplies necessary to complete the water tank in the forest, which collects rainwater for distribution. The mangrove forest remains under protection.

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