Rainforest Trust’s local partner Palau Conservation Society purchased 6.84 acres of private land on the island of Peleliu to establish the first protected section of the MVP Forest of Hope reserve this June. The reserve is the first private land converted to a protected area on Peleliu, and it protects a vital foraging area for the Endangered Micronesian Scrubfowl, known locally as the Micronesian Megapode. The site also contains a famous WWII memorial, as it is notoriously the location of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Pacific war.



Endangered Micronesian Scrubfowl. Photo courtesy of Michael Lusk



Peleliu has the most diverse avifauna in Palau, with populations of Micronesian Megapodes, Palau Ground-doves, Giant White-eyes and Micronesian Imperial Pigeons. The Endangered Micronesian Megapode, endemic to Palau and the Northern Mariana Islands, is often a shy and secretive bird. It nests in large burrows that incubate its eggs through the heat of the sun on sandy beaches or geothermal activity within the forest. They face threats from human disturbance of nest mounds, one of the largest reasons the species is facing declines in the archipelago country. Other significant threats include the introduction of invasive species such as rats, which dig up and eat the eggs from the nest mounds, sea level rise from climate change, and extreme weather events. The new protected area will help provide these Endangered birds a place of refuge on the island.



Ngeriungs Bird Sanctuary in Kayangel. Photo courtesy of PCS



This 6.84-acre purchase is just the beginning of Rainforest Trust’s efforts in Palau. Rainforest Trust is working with its local partner to purchase several more private properties totaling 76 acres on both the island of Peleliu and the island of Kayangel, where there is an even larger population of the Endangered Micronesian Megapode. Together, the newly protected areas will safeguard approximately 20 percent of Palau’s total nesting sites of the Micronesian Megapode and will be incorporated into Palau’s National Protected Areas Network.

Rainforest Trust thanks all of our supporters who are helping make this protected area possible through the SAVES Challenge, especially Harvey Bookman and an anonymous donor.

