00.00.00 Rock Island Aerials MUSIC
VO According to legend, the islands of Palau are the scattered remains of a giant boy who exploded after over-indulging.
Today, it's still easy to overload the senses in this western Pacific Eden.
Beautiful on top... Palau is breath taking below.
VO With 600 different types of coral and 15 hundred species of fish, it's a wonder this place has been judged the number one wonder of the underwater world.
Dom and Noah begin walking up hill from boat NATSOT
01.01.18 VO The Rock are a place of inspiration for environmental watchdog Noah Idechong - the former head of fisheries who runs the Palau Conservation Society.
Noah's greatest concern is that independent Palau will open the floodgates to tourists and developers - destroying its environment and jeopardising its future.
Noah Interview
Now that we are independent and we need money to run our governments, it's very easy to oversell our country and to short sell the resources we have, so it's very critical now to make sure that we use resources wisely.
Koror - wide top shot showing town and island in background - then into traffic and town shots NATSOT
01.02.00 VO There are only 17 thousand people in Palau - but two thirds of them live in Koror
It’s largely here - in the nation’s capital - that Palau’s future is being decided.
Tilt down to find Dom and Tommy at table. One of those making the decisions, is Vice President, Tommy Remengasau
Tommy Interview
Now the issue that everybody sees and talks about is where do we go from here? How should our future look like? Do we want to look like Guam and Saipan? Do we want to look like Hawaii? Or is there another way that Palau can look like Palau?
01.02.36 VO Regaining there identity has been a long struggle for Palauans.
In 1944 they were liberated from their Japanese overlords, only to get a new foreign master - the United States.
Palau and other Micronesian islands became a strategic (United Nations) Trust Territory administered by Washington.
Marshall Island Nuke blast NATSOT
People getting checked out by doctor
VO Determined not to suffer the same nuclear fate as their neighbours in Marshall Islands,
Palauans in 1979 adopted a constitution banning nuclear weapons
demo, man with megaphone brief NATSOT
01.03.14 VO It set Palau on a collision course with the US, and divided the country.
Burnt out houses, funerals During the eighties, one Palauan president was assassinated, another committed suicide, and Palauans voted nine times on their political future.
Dom and Tommy in interview setting Finally in October 1994, Palau got its independence - and 650 million dollars from the US.
Tommy interview
It’s an end of a long struggle for self pride, but the beginning of many challenges that we of course will have to meet as an independent nation.
That is a real challenge of course, and that’s why for us also to survive as an independent nation, we must also be economically independent.
Reverse So how important is tourism?
Tommy interview
That is our bread and butter. Tourism is going to be the number one industry of the future.
Resort pics, dive boats being loaded up, divers getting ready for day’s outing, boats leaving jetty etc. NATSOT
VO Palau certainly has no difficulty attracting tourists.
Last year 45 thousand holiday makers turned up - this year six thousand more are expected.
01.04.15 The rate of growth is already outstripping targets - and, if it continues, will require the number of hotel rooms to double over the next decade.
Johannes Interview
Back and forth between Johannes and Dom There are far too many hotels being planned and far too many divers being encouraged to come in without any thought being given to preserving the reason for coming.
VO Dr Bob Johannes is a leading marine biologist who’s been working in Palau - on and off - for the past 20 years.
MusicUnderwater vision - long seasnake shot
VO It was Johannes who nominated Palau the best underwater wonder of the world - a move he now regrets.
He believes the publicity has encouraged people to exploit the reef, rather than protect it... and that with independence, the development sharks, have free reign.
01.05.15 Johannes interview
The environment is suffering severely and the number one underwater wonder of the worlds not going to be that way for much longer at the rate things are going.
There is a huge potential for conflict of interest in Palau.
Dom and Alan Seid walking down to building site
VO Not so, according to Alan Seid
NATSOT
The whole country is excited about it.
VO Like Alan Seid, many of the country’s most influential politicians are also the biggest local investors.
Dom and Alan walking into shot It’s a 160 room hotel...
VO Seid’s family company is working with foreign investors on projects worth 150 million dollars.
While personal gain is obviously a motive, he says they also create much needed jobs.
01.05.57 Seid Interview
I wouldn’t deny being in congress has helps our business but the business is good for the public as a whole and our family.
It begins to build an economic base needed to shy away from continued dependence on grant aid from abroad, from the US.
Fish Market - POV from behind shoulder of crane operator as he lifts fish out of boat and dumps on tray. NATSOT
VO Palau’s other big hope for economic security is its fishing industry.
By tomorrow night this tuna will be expensive sushi in the bars of Tokyo - while in Palau’s exotic reef fish feed the high-rollers in Hong kong and Taiwan.
It’s a booming business, but it comes at a cost.
Already the waters around Koror have been over-fished.
01.07.15 Noah in boat - early morning NATSOT
VO Conservationist Noah Idechong is trying to stay one step ahead of the developers and fishing fleets.
Noah Halfway up the Ngermedu estuary. The country’s most important fish nursery.
Noah on boat as it turns corner into river. NATSOTYou see three rivers come into these and we’ll go here - one other rivers goes this way...
VO Not only is this a vital breeding ground for fish and crustaceans, it also supports one of Palau’s most diverse communities of plants and animals.
Noah Interview
We have crocodiles, we have birds, we have rat bats that feed on the flowers, and many many different kinds of mangrove trees.
VO Noah is lobbying hard to have this estuary declared a conservation zone before it’s too late. Already, construction has started on a road which Noah fears will bring developers, farmers and loggers. Disturbing the balance in this fragile environment.
01.08.37 Noah Interview
If lost this area, the fish will drop, the fish will go down and then if there is anything upland it will kill the coral reefs.
VO While Noah wants this area protected, he realises no government decree will ever be enough to safeguard the environment - that Palauns must do that themselves.
Jay and Nephew leaving Ollei on boat - Ollei in background. NATSOT
VO Jay Shiro is a fisherman from the village of Ollei - at the northern tip of Babeldhaop
These waters are a popular fishing ground - and likely to become more so, now that Koror is overfished.
Already the catch here is smaller than it used to be. In both size and number.
Fishing NATSOT
VO Jay and the other local fishermen are trying too protect their livelihoods with a potent mix of traditional wisdom and modern science.
They’ve reinstated an ancient law, known as the bul, which bans fishing in major breeding grounds.
NATSOT
Boy fishingVO At the same time, they’re tagging fish, helping scientists collect data which will preserve fish stocks for the next generation.
01.10.13 Noah and Dom walk into Jay’s house NATSOT - hello, hello, etc
VO The man behind the bul - and the fish survey - is Noah Idechong.
Something of a local hero up here.
Noah and Dom sit down and shoot breeze with the boys NATSOT
VO For Noah, it wasn’t easy convincing locals to reduce their catch now on the promise of a bigger haul later.
So he enlisted the support of the village chiefs, who brought Jay and the other fishermen on side.
Jay interview
I think that’s the very thing? For the future to conserve the fish for a long time we have to do that. I think it’s a really great idea.
Fishermen, women and kids sitting around.
VO Noah believes the Ollei experience shows that modern science and democracy must work together with traditional practices and village law if Palau is to make the best of its future.
Noah
It’s really the chiefs who make it so the young people feel comfortable in carrying out things.
So once the chiefs get together and make a decision you know, everybody, whether they like it or not they will have to make sure that they follow.
VO It’s a view shared by the Vice President
Tommy Interview
We have got to strengthen and revitalise our own traditional customs and way of life, we would like a sense of feeling that if I don’t do my part nobody else will and eventually the environment is gone or the culture of Palau is gone or the future of Palau is gone.
Rock island pretties Music
VO Palau has more going for it than most young nations.
Natural beauty, abundant resources, and the money to develop both.
Now, it also has a political means to build a self-sustaining future.
While there’s no guarantee Palau will do better than its South Pacific neighbours, Noah is hopeful.
Noah Interview
I believe that we make the right decisions now it certainly be a model for everybody.
01.13.10 I would think that we have a lot to offer as a nation. I think that people can look to Palau and say, well they fought very hard you know, they make reconciliation and now they are fully aware of their past and fully aware of their needs of the present and fully aware of the needs for the future.
ENDS
VO According to legend, the islands of Palau are the scattered remains of a giant boy who exploded after over-indulging.
Today, it's still easy to overload the senses in this western Pacific Eden.
Beautiful on top... Palau is breath taking below.
VO With 600 different types of coral and 15 hundred species of fish, it's a wonder this place has been judged the number one wonder of the underwater world.
Dom and Noah begin walking up hill from boat NATSOT
01.01.18 VO The Rock are a place of inspiration for environmental watchdog Noah Idechong - the former head of fisheries who runs the Palau Conservation Society.
Noah's greatest concern is that independent Palau will open the floodgates to tourists and developers - destroying its environment and jeopardising its future.
Noah Interview
Now that we are independent and we need money to run our governments, it's very easy to oversell our country and to short sell the resources we have, so it's very critical now to make sure that we use resources wisely.
Koror - wide top shot showing town and island in background - then into traffic and town shots NATSOT
01.02.00 VO There are only 17 thousand people in Palau - but two thirds of them live in Koror
It’s largely here - in the nation’s capital - that Palau’s future is being decided.
Tilt down to find Dom and Tommy at table. One of those making the decisions, is Vice President, Tommy Remengasau
Tommy Interview
Now the issue that everybody sees and talks about is where do we go from here? How should our future look like? Do we want to look like Guam and Saipan? Do we want to look like Hawaii? Or is there another way that Palau can look like Palau?
01.02.36 VO Regaining there identity has been a long struggle for Palauans.
In 1944 they were liberated from their Japanese overlords, only to get a new foreign master - the United States.
Palau and other Micronesian islands became a strategic (United Nations) Trust Territory administered by Washington.
Marshall Island Nuke blast NATSOT
People getting checked out by doctor
VO Determined not to suffer the same nuclear fate as their neighbours in Marshall Islands,
Palauans in 1979 adopted a constitution banning nuclear weapons
demo, man with megaphone brief NATSOT
01.03.14 VO It set Palau on a collision course with the US, and divided the country.
Burnt out houses, funerals During the eighties, one Palauan president was assassinated, another committed suicide, and Palauans voted nine times on their political future.
Dom and Tommy in interview setting Finally in October 1994, Palau got its independence - and 650 million dollars from the US.
Tommy interview
It’s an end of a long struggle for self pride, but the beginning of many challenges that we of course will have to meet as an independent nation.
That is a real challenge of course, and that’s why for us also to survive as an independent nation, we must also be economically independent.
Reverse So how important is tourism?
Tommy interview
That is our bread and butter. Tourism is going to be the number one industry of the future.
Resort pics, dive boats being loaded up, divers getting ready for day’s outing, boats leaving jetty etc. NATSOT
VO Palau certainly has no difficulty attracting tourists.
Last year 45 thousand holiday makers turned up - this year six thousand more are expected.
01.04.15 The rate of growth is already outstripping targets - and, if it continues, will require the number of hotel rooms to double over the next decade.
Johannes Interview
Back and forth between Johannes and Dom There are far too many hotels being planned and far too many divers being encouraged to come in without any thought being given to preserving the reason for coming.
VO Dr Bob Johannes is a leading marine biologist who’s been working in Palau - on and off - for the past 20 years.
MusicUnderwater vision - long seasnake shot
VO It was Johannes who nominated Palau the best underwater wonder of the world - a move he now regrets.
He believes the publicity has encouraged people to exploit the reef, rather than protect it... and that with independence, the development sharks, have free reign.
01.05.15 Johannes interview
The environment is suffering severely and the number one underwater wonder of the worlds not going to be that way for much longer at the rate things are going.
There is a huge potential for conflict of interest in Palau.
Dom and Alan Seid walking down to building site
VO Not so, according to Alan Seid
NATSOT
The whole country is excited about it.
VO Like Alan Seid, many of the country’s most influential politicians are also the biggest local investors.
Dom and Alan walking into shot It’s a 160 room hotel...
VO Seid’s family company is working with foreign investors on projects worth 150 million dollars.
While personal gain is obviously a motive, he says they also create much needed jobs.
01.05.57 Seid Interview
I wouldn’t deny being in congress has helps our business but the business is good for the public as a whole and our family.
It begins to build an economic base needed to shy away from continued dependence on grant aid from abroad, from the US.
Fish Market - POV from behind shoulder of crane operator as he lifts fish out of boat and dumps on tray. NATSOT
VO Palau’s other big hope for economic security is its fishing industry.
By tomorrow night this tuna will be expensive sushi in the bars of Tokyo - while in Palau’s exotic reef fish feed the high-rollers in Hong kong and Taiwan.
It’s a booming business, but it comes at a cost.
Already the waters around Koror have been over-fished.
01.07.15 Noah in boat - early morning NATSOT
VO Conservationist Noah Idechong is trying to stay one step ahead of the developers and fishing fleets.
Noah Halfway up the Ngermedu estuary. The country’s most important fish nursery.
Noah on boat as it turns corner into river. NATSOTYou see three rivers come into these and we’ll go here - one other rivers goes this way...
VO Not only is this a vital breeding ground for fish and crustaceans, it also supports one of Palau’s most diverse communities of plants and animals.
Noah Interview
We have crocodiles, we have birds, we have rat bats that feed on the flowers, and many many different kinds of mangrove trees.
VO Noah is lobbying hard to have this estuary declared a conservation zone before it’s too late. Already, construction has started on a road which Noah fears will bring developers, farmers and loggers. Disturbing the balance in this fragile environment.
01.08.37 Noah Interview
If lost this area, the fish will drop, the fish will go down and then if there is anything upland it will kill the coral reefs.
VO While Noah wants this area protected, he realises no government decree will ever be enough to safeguard the environment - that Palauns must do that themselves.
Jay and Nephew leaving Ollei on boat - Ollei in background. NATSOT
VO Jay Shiro is a fisherman from the village of Ollei - at the northern tip of Babeldhaop
These waters are a popular fishing ground - and likely to become more so, now that Koror is overfished.
Already the catch here is smaller than it used to be. In both size and number.
Fishing NATSOT
VO Jay and the other local fishermen are trying too protect their livelihoods with a potent mix of traditional wisdom and modern science.
They’ve reinstated an ancient law, known as the bul, which bans fishing in major breeding grounds.
NATSOT
Boy fishingVO At the same time, they’re tagging fish, helping scientists collect data which will preserve fish stocks for the next generation.
01.10.13 Noah and Dom walk into Jay’s house NATSOT - hello, hello, etc
VO The man behind the bul - and the fish survey - is Noah Idechong.
Something of a local hero up here.
Noah and Dom sit down and shoot breeze with the boys NATSOT
VO For Noah, it wasn’t easy convincing locals to reduce their catch now on the promise of a bigger haul later.
So he enlisted the support of the village chiefs, who brought Jay and the other fishermen on side.
Jay interview
I think that’s the very thing? For the future to conserve the fish for a long time we have to do that. I think it’s a really great idea.
Fishermen, women and kids sitting around.
VO Noah believes the Ollei experience shows that modern science and democracy must work together with traditional practices and village law if Palau is to make the best of its future.
Noah
It’s really the chiefs who make it so the young people feel comfortable in carrying out things.
So once the chiefs get together and make a decision you know, everybody, whether they like it or not they will have to make sure that they follow.
VO It’s a view shared by the Vice President
Tommy Interview
We have got to strengthen and revitalise our own traditional customs and way of life, we would like a sense of feeling that if I don’t do my part nobody else will and eventually the environment is gone or the culture of Palau is gone or the future of Palau is gone.
Rock island pretties Music
VO Palau has more going for it than most young nations.
Natural beauty, abundant resources, and the money to develop both.
Now, it also has a political means to build a self-sustaining future.
While there’s no guarantee Palau will do better than its South Pacific neighbours, Noah is hopeful.
Noah Interview
I believe that we make the right decisions now it certainly be a model for everybody.
01.13.10 I would think that we have a lot to offer as a nation. I think that people can look to Palau and say, well they fought very hard you know, they make reconciliation and now they are fully aware of their past and fully aware of their needs of the present and fully aware of the needs for the future.
ENDS