from left to right (Charlene Afu, Fatima Sauafea-Leau, Risa Oram and Sione Lam Yuen Jr)

The 2010 Hawaii Conservation Conference was held at the Hawaii Convention Center from August 4-6, 2010. The theme for this year’s conference was Pacific Ecosystem Management & Restoration. Fatima Sauafea-Leau (NOAA Pacific Island Regional Office) presented on the third day of the conference at room: Ballroom A. Fatima presented about the Participatory Learning Action (PLA) Approach. PLA is a community approach that engages all sectors of a community. PLA is used in gathering information and sharing local knowledge using a diverse range of tools and activities. Some of the tools that she mentioned during her talk were Community Action Plan, Historical Profile, Resource Mapping and Identification of Problems, Cause, Effect, and Solutions. Sione Lam Yuen Jr (MPA Technician MPA Program attended the conference to learn and offer support to Fatima. Sione learned from the Hawaii Conservation Conference that people were sharing ideas, thoughts, techniques, and tools to protect marine resources. They had a shared desire to conserve, preserve and protect the marine resources and the environment for the future of our children and all people. People from Palau, New Zealand, American Samoa, Australia, and different parts of the United States participated. Sione also learned that there are also people from other islands in different countries that are concerned about their own marine resources and the environment because of the changes caused by global warming, human impacts such as pollution, human development and increase in population. Some people talked about preserving native species of marine resources and also native trees and plants that are in the forest. During her talk Fatima discussed how our Program (the MPA Program) used PLA in the village of Aunu’u. Sione was very happy to attend the first international conference of his life. He had fun and felt more motivated to learn about conserve traditional practices.