Palau's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment (MAFE) is executing an extensive and ambitious Global Environment Facility funded project (GEF 6), implemented by UNDP, to help increase resilience to invasive species threats.

As part of the project Palau have developed two biosecurity frameworks:

• A national Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) framework, and
• A domestic inter-state and inter-island (IIB) framework.

​We worked with our PRISMSS colleagues Island Conservation, and Island Conservation Palau to support MAFE's development of these frameworks.

Island Conservation Palau are leading eradications in key islands in Palau and assist Palau state governments with developing domestic biosecurity legislation and inter-island biosecurity plans

Palau and Island Conservation benefits from the work we have already done with SPREP under the GEF 6 RIP to create the regional EDRR resources, and in turn lessons learned in Palau will be incorporated into the regional EDRR Toolkit and our inter-island biosecurity work alongside the clean boats, clean ports framework.

​We think Palau's "pick and mix" approach to inter-island biosecurity, with a focus on being a good neighbour (implementing biosecurity prior to departing to new islands), could work for other countries too.  

This project was a great example of inter-project collaboration and resource-sharing that the PRISMSS partnership was designed for.

Please contact Pacific Biosecurity or SPREP for more information on EDRR and inter-island biosecurity resources in the Pacific.