Abstract:
Conservation and sustainable resource management has always been a part of Marshallese traditional culture. In the face of global losses of biodiversity, the Marshalls retain some of the healthiest and most pristine coral reef systems anywhere in the world. In recent years, however, biodiversity in the Marshall Islands has become threatened by increased pressures on fisheries, climate change and sea-level rise, increased urbanization and a loss of the traditional subsistence lifestyle, central to the identity and well-being of the Marshallese people.