On Saturday, October 18th, Mr. William Kostka,
Executive Director of the Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT), visited Tokyo to
execute a formal partnership with Japan’s Association for Promotion of
International Cooperation (APIC). Attending the signing ceremony where
Ambassador Peter Sato, President of APIC, Ambassador Shoji Sato, Executive
Director of APIC, Mr.
Junya Nakano, Director of Climate Change Division, Japanese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Mr. Megumi Araki, Director of APIC, Ms. Ikuko Matsumoto of the Asian
Development Bank, and Ms. Kana Nagayama, also of APIC.
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| Photo: MCT |
The signing ceremony comes on the heels of the UN Convention
on Biological Diversity Convention of the Parties (CBD-COP12) recently held in
Pyeonchang, South Korea, where APIC and MCT, represented by Mr. Kostka, had
featured prominently for co-hosting several high-level events with the Global
Island Partnership (GLISPA), as well as with Governments and international
organizations who support islands and sustainable development in islands. In
July of 2014, MCT received a $10,000 grant from APIC to print the Micronesia
Challenge Business Plan/Sustainable Finance Plan and to help promote the
Micronesia Challenge at major regional and international events. This support
has allowed MCT to feature the Micronesia Challenge at the Pacific Islands
Forum in Palau, UN Small Island Developing States Conference in Samoa and at
the UN CBD-COP in South Korea. Also contributing to the development of the
booklets and the Micronesia Challenge Initiative (www.micronesiachallenge.org) are
the Australian Government, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International,
the Global Environment Facility, United Nations Environment Programme, US
Federal Agencies, US Private Foundations, the German Government and several
other donors and technical partners. The Micronesia Challenge Initiative is a
commitment by the Governments of Palau, FSM, Marshall Islands, Guam and CNMI to
put under effective conservation 30% of Micronesia’s nearshore marine resources
and 20% of its terrestrial resources by 2020. The parties to the Micronesia
Challenge also aim to raise an endowment of $56M, of which $18M has been
secured and is currently being managed by the Micronesia Conservation Trust.
This MoU between APIC and MCT establishes a working
relationship which describes the two organizations’ desire and willingness to
work together to secure financial and technical resources in Japan to support improved resources management and
sustainable development efforts, inter alia, in the field of environment
conservation, within the jurisdictions of Micronesia. This entails Partners’ communicating, and leveraging
overlapping resources with roles and responsibilities of each organization, with
the overarching goal to achieve specific environmental conservation and
sustainable development outcomes.
“Japan and Micronesia have always had a special
relationship, which have produced some tangible outcomes in our region”, said
Mr. Kostka. “This newly established partnership between APIC and MCT will
ensure that this rich and consequential relationship continues”. Some of APIC’s
other contributions to Micronesia include the establishment of a scholarship
program which supports the costs of a Xavier High School graduate to Sophia University
in Japan.
Peter Y. Sato, president of APIC, emphasized the conclusion of
the MoU as a meaningful step forward in enhancing the collaboration between
Japan and Micronesia in coping with many issues of the global warming
agenda. “Japan as an island country
surrounded by the ocean has long been committed to preserve natural resources
to sustain her quality of life. To us, Japanese, fisheries in Micronesia contributes
a great deal to our fishing industry. In
these respects, we fully share the significance of the Micronesia Challenge, which
is so universally supported by many people and nations in the world. It is in our great interest indeed to support
MCT and Micronesia's leaders in ensuring that these resources are sustainably used
and managed for the benefit of the people of Micronesia and Japan.", he
remarked. He also referred to the
progress also being made in education as the first Xavier student had started
her study under the Ushiba Scholarship program at Sophia University this
autumn.