Are you ready for the new year? 2020 is around the corner and I am very happy that I live to see the new decade. I just feel that it’s going to be a good year. Regardless of how our political climate is now I still think our economy is going to do very well. I think we are in a silent revolution. People are slowly becoming enlightened beings that we truly are. We are becoming more aware of our selves, our environment and each other.

The Palau fruit dove is endemic to Palau, where it is common in all habitats across the island. It can be found in the rock islands. It only eats fruits around the islands. A local legend claims that these birds are related to giant clams. At low tide when people come to collect clams, the bird cries out loudly, mourning its lost relatives. In 1994, a voting contest by all the students of Palau was held and the fruit dove was chosen as the national bird of Palau. Today it is heavily protected and is no longer extinct.

Apart from being a world class diving destination, Palau is also a leader in the fight for sustainable environment and global warming crisis. In 2005, Palau President Tommy Remengesau introduced a inter-governmental initiative called the “Micronesian Challenge” that aims to conserve 30 percent of near shore coastal waters and 20 percent of forest land of the entire western pacific region of Micronesia that would help facilitate more effective conservation of marine and forest resources. Following this initiative, other pacific islands have created hundreds of “no take” zones. Meanwhile, nations in another sea are pursuing their own “Caribbean challenge.” Palau also created the world’s first shark sanctuary due to over exploitation and illegal trading of shark fins on the black market mainly in China and Japan. Palau is home to 135 endangered or vulnerable shark and ray species.

One of my favorite childhood memories growing up in Palau is going to the famous rock islands and climbing up those tiny mushroom shaped islands to get to the Jellyfish Lake. Once you reach the other side of the island, you will discover a marine lake that is land locked. Within the lake, you will find billions of jellyfish that lost their ability to sting because they do not have natural predators. They live off of the sunlight using the photosynthesis process.