Editing Palau (section)

===Environment===
[[File:Ngerukewid-2016-aerial-view-Luka-Peternel.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of [[Ngerukewid]]]]
[[File:Rock-Islands-Palau-1-2016-aerial-view-Luka-Peternel.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of [[Rock Islands (Palau)|Rock Islands]]]]
[[File:Palau-rock-islands20071222.jpg|thumb|[[Rock Islands (Palau)|Rock Islands]] in Palau]]
[[File:Palau 2008030818 4709 (2347767520).jpg|thumb|An aerial view of limestone islands]]

Palau has a history of strong environmental conservation. For example, [[Ngerukewid]] and the surrounding area are protected under the Ngerukewid Islands Wildlife Preserve, which was established in 1956.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wiles |first1=Gary J. |last2=Conry |first2=Paul J. |year=1990 |title=Terrestrial vertebrates of the Ngerukewid Islands Wildlife Preserve, Palau Islands |journal=Micronesica |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=41–66}}</ref> While much of Palau remains free of [[environmental degradation]], areas of concern include illegal [[blast fishing|dynamite fishing]], inadequate [[waste management|solid waste disposal]] facilities in Koror, and extensive sand and coral [[dredging]] in the Palau lagoon.

As with other Pacific island states, [[sea-level rise|rising sea level]] presents a major environmental threat. However, according to the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research average [[List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita|carbon dioxide emissions per person]] were 60 tonnes in 2019, the highest in the world, and mostly from transport.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fossil CO<sub>2</sub> and GHG emissions of all world countries: 2019 report.|url=http://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9d09ccd1-e0dd-11e9-9c4e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en|last1=Monforti-Ferrario|first1=F.|last2=Oreggioni|first2=G.|last3=Schaaf|first3=E.|last4=Guizzardi|first4=D.|last5=Olivier|first5=J.G.J.|last6=Solazzo|first6=E.|last7=Lo Vullo|first7=E.|last8=Crippa|first8=M.|last9=Muntean|first9=M.|last10=Vignati|first10=E.|publisher=Publications Office of the European Union|date=26 September 2019|website=op.europa.eu|isbn=9789276111009|access-date=20 May 2020|archive-date=8 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908142704/https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9d09ccd1-e0dd-11e9-9c4e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=what kind of transport?|date=May 2020}}  Inundation of low-lying areas threatens coastal vegetation, agriculture, and an already insufficient [[water supply]]. [[Wastewater treatment]] is a problem, along with the handling of [[toxic waste]] from [[fertilizer]]s and [[biocide]]s.

One species of [[saltwater crocodile]], ''Crocodylus porosus'', is indigenous to Palau, occurring in varying numbers throughout the [[mangrove]]s and in parts of the Rock Islands. Although this species is generally considered extremely dangerous, there has only been one fatal human attack, on 28&nbsp;December 1965, in Palau in modern history.<ref>{{cite conference|title=Survey of the crocodile populations of the Republic of Palau, Caroline Islands, Pacific Ocean, 8–24 June 1991: A report to the Government of the Republic of Palau Koror, Palau.|last1=Messel|first1=H.|last2=King|first2=F.W.|year=1992|volume=1|book-title=Proceedings of the 11th Working Meeting of the Crocodile Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN – The World Conservation Union|publisher=IUCN – The World Conservation Union|location=Gland, Switzerland|isbn=9789820400115|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCIWAQAAIAAJ|access-date=23 September 2021}}</ref> This attack led to a crocodile eradication program and trade in crocodile hides that ran into the 1980s. A management and conservation program running since the 1990s has led to a stabilization of the Palauan crocodile population.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Webb|first1=Grahame J.W.|last2=Manolis|first2=S. Charlie|last3=Brien|first3=Matthew L.|date=2010|chapter=Saltwater Crocodile ''Crocodylus porosus''|pages=99–113|title=Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan|edition=third|editor1-first=S.C.|editor1-last=Manolis|editor2-first=C.|editor2-last=Stevenson|publisher=Crocodile Specialist Group|location=Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia|chapter-url=https://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/18%20--8088e67a.pdf|access-date=23 September 2021|archive-date=20 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720153839/https://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/18%20--8088e67a.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 5&nbsp;November 2005, [[Thomas Remengesau Jr.|President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr.]] took the lead on a regional environmental initiative called the Micronesia Challenge, which would conserve 30% of near-shore coastal waters and 20% of [[forest|forest land]] by 2020. Following Palau, the initiative was joined by the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the US territories of Guam and [[Northern Mariana Islands]]. Together, this combined region represents nearly 5% of the marine area of the Pacific Ocean and 7% of its coastline.

Palau contains the [[Palau tropical moist forests]] terrestrial ecoregion.<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}}</ref> It had a 2019 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 8.09/10, ranking it 27th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|display-authors=1|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity – Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G |doi-access=free}}</ref> The country is vulnerable to earthquakes, [[volcano|volcanic activity]], and [[tropical cyclone|tropical storms]].