Word: parkes
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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Imagine a protected park half the size of the continental U.S., covering a sea-life-loaded swath of the Pacific Ocean and the 607 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...
...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 states, will host an economic summit to address the park's planning. (See 25 authentic Asian experiences...
...There are hurdles. Although the state of Pohnpei is spearheading the effort to move the project forward, its development-hungry governor has proposed building a casino and resort complex "of not less than 1,000 rooms" - not exactly a conservation-minded move. In fact, even though the world-park concept was first floated in 2004, no guidelines for development in the park have been drawn yet, bringing into question how valuable the project will really be in conservation terms. The national government, too, remains skeptical. "It might be a workable idea," says Joseph Urusemal, a senator who was President when...
...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...
...park's advocates argue that the project is a work in progress. Nothing will be finalized without consulting the communities, says Richard Paulsen, a recreation- and resource-studies expert at MSU. "Our complete intention is that this be a Micronesian concept," he says. "This is something that the person on the street must understand, accept and be able to live with...