Pakin Community Completed First Coconut Trade and Updated MCT on Climate Adaptation Project During a Project Site Monitoring

July 21, 2020

MCT, CSP and community members check out MPA boundary

Community members transfer coconuts to boat for trading

In collaboration with the Pohnpei State Government (Department of Resources and Development and Department of Public Safety), Sokehs Municipal Government and KOHWA Incorporated, Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT) visited Pakin Atoll on July 17-18. The Pakin community has an established group called Pakin Community Association (PCA) that receives funding from MCT through the Conservation Society of Pohnpei (CSP) to support their project titled, “Building Pakin Community Resilience to Climate Change Through an Enhanced Ecosystem-based Approach to Fisheries Management.” As sponsors of this project, MCT conducted project site monitoring during this visit to Pakin by checking the marine protected area (MPA), reviewing budget with the Project Coordinator and assessing work progress and needs. PCA has completed multiple activities under the project including identifying and organizing the Community Conservation Officers (CCO), enforcement training, coral reef monitoring training, and installment of MPA boundary signs.

In addition to project monitoring, MCT visited Pakin for the Coconut for Life Project (C4L), which is an initiative by a partnership between Vital Energy and MCT that aims to improve livelihoods of community members in the FSM through trading of coconuts. In February 2020, MCT visited Pakin to introduce the project after which the community expressed interest in taking part. During the visit this month, Pakin residents completed their first coconut trade with Vital Energy and MCT formally registered the group as a coconut supplier under the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) model.

It is the aim of these conservation and livelihoods projects that the Pakin community would be able to sustainably manage its fisheries and relieve fishing pressure by selling coconuts to Vital Energy as an alternative source of income.