In its drive to protect nature, the island nation of Palau has taken a bold step by requiring all visitors to have their passports stamped with a commitment to be environmentally friendly during their stay in Palau.
The Palau archipelago consists of 250 islands, located in the western Pacific Ocean, belonging to the Republic of Palau. This is a beautiful tropical paradise, with a wild but mysterious beauty. Most of these are coral islands, only a few meters above sea level, of which only 9 islands are inhabited. The population of the country is about 21,000 people, scattered on 250 islands that form the western range of the Caroline Islands.
Like many other Pacific island nations, Palau relies on tourism as a major driver of its economy. Every year, large numbers of tourists from all over the world come to explore the island. In recent years, the average number of visitors to Palau has been nearly seven times the size of the local population. As the number of visitors continues to increase, problems have arisen as many tourists do not respect the ecosystem and nature.
When flights from Guam landed in Palau recently, travelers were asked to go through a completely different process than before. Instead of a normal entry stamp in their passports, travelers received a pledge stamp that read like a poem. To visit Palau, everyone had to sign a pledge to “travel lightly, act courteously, and explore kindly.” The Palau Pledge initiative is accompanied by a mandatory video on flights to Palau that educates all travelers about their environmental responsibilities and a list of dos and don’ts during their stay.
Many locals feel that the Palau Pledge is a small but important step in changing visitor attitudes about the country’s natural and ecological values. It is too early to judge the effectiveness of the initiative, but many hope it can be a tool to encourage local communities to be similarly conscientious about protecting nature.
TEA COLLECTION
