Friends of the Earth

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Friends of the Earth is one of the most effective environmental groups in the world today. Although FOE publishes its own journal-a monthly tabloid called Not Man Apart-far too few of MOTHER's readers regularly see a copy of NMA . . . which is why we've agreed to publish this column, written by the FOE/NMA staff.

THE BATTLE OF PALAU

Palau (pop. 11,200) is an idyllic string of 200 islands in Micronesia . . . a true South Pacific paradise. Since World War II, Palau has been administered by the U.S. under a trust territory agreement with the United Nations. Until recently, Palau's natives fished the area's coral reefs (some of the richest in the world) and lived on the islands' fruits and taro.

In 1975 Robert Panero--an American working as a consultant for a Japanese bank-proposed that a colossal oil shipment facility be built at Palau, a "superport" that would serve huge supertankers carrying Iranian oil to Japan. Panero's proposal included oil tanks, refineries, and a gigantic harbor that would be dredged among the coral reefs. Of course, such a development-entailing the possibility of enormous oil spills, siltation of the coral reefs, and a great influx of people, money, and machinery to the area-would forever change Palau's people and uniquely beautiful ecosystem.

The Palauans themselves are divided on the superport question. Some see economic benefits to the islands . . . others see the obvious danger to their reefs and their way of life.

Meanwhile, environmentalists and other friends of Palau from around the world have been working to save Palau from the potentially devastating effects of largescale development. Last March, a coalition of environmental organizations representing over 20 million people from more than 50 countries petitioned the Japanese Congress to investigate the superport proposal more closely and to reconsider the course of Japanese investment.

Likewise, on June 14 of this year a coalition of eleven environmental and public interest groups-including FOEasked the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create a marine sanctuary at Palau. The sanctuary-if established-would include all of the islands, except for the water around the district's population center.

The coalition's petition notes that Palau "sustains a veritable encyclopedia of marine life" and asks for an environmental impact statement for the proposed superport. NOAA officials believe that the superport could coexist with a sanctuary, but environmentalists are skeptical. In World War II-when terrible battles were fought at Palau-the greatest damage to the is lands was done not by bombs or bullets, but by oil leaking from ships.

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