Word: micronesia
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...tropical islands therein. The park's inhabitants live mostly in traditional villages and still remember how to do things much of the world has forgotten, such as make clothes from scratch and live off the land. This park would, in fact, encompass an entire country - the Federated States of Micronesia (F.S.M.) - and if the archipelago nation pulls it off, it will be the first of its kind in the world. "It's a visionary, radical concept," says Howard Rice, an instructor at the College of Micronesia who came up with the idea. "There's never been a world park...
...successful, Micronesia will be the first nation to become a wholly protected area, adhering to development and conservation standards designed to safeguard the country's unique culture and rich marine biodiversity and kick-start its placid economy. According to Rice, who once operated an eco-tourism company in the Caribbean, developing high-end eco-tourism is the answer to F.S.M.'s perennial job shortage. Michigan State University (MSU) has already agreed to provide technical expertise for the park, and the National Geographic Society has also issued the project its stamp of approval. This spring, Pohnpei, one of F.S.M.'s four...
...local conservation community also sees the world park as a straight-up tourism initiative backed by foreign researchers out of touch with local values. Though there are state governments, Micronesia's limited land - all 607 small islands comprise only 271 square miles in total - is mostly controlled by family clans, and setting even small patches of it aside has proved problematic in the past. In the early 1990s, the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy tried to survey land in Pohnpei for a proposed watershed-management plan. "We almost got macheted to death," says Bill Raynor, who moved to Pohnpei from California...
...just how landowners will react to having rules imposed on them by the central government remains to be seen. "Ownership here is very, very tight," says John Haglelgam, who served as President of F.S.M. from 1987 to 1991 and is now a history professor at the College of Micronesia. "The world park goes to the core of the land-ownership system...
...park could be an answer to the question that has plagued Micronesia's leaders for decades: how to achieve economic development while maintaining F.S.M.'s culture. Politicians worry the country will suffer the same fate as its island neighbor Guam, home to high-rise hotels and a traditional culture in shards. But Guam also offers opportunity, and some 2,000 F.S.M. residents migrate out of the country each year both to Guam and the U.S. seeking education and employment...