Leaders from across the Pacific convened Monday for a workshop at the 17th University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability aimed at innovating how conservation efforts are financed in the region, marking a significant step forward for the Micronesia Challenge and its long-term sustainability goals.

Key to the discussion at the Micronesia Challenge Regional Meeting is the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model, a large-scale financing approach designed to secure long-term funding for these green initiatives, according to Trina Leberer, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Micronesia Program.

Leberer said the Micronesia Challenge has been selected as a regional PFP initiative through the Enduring Earth Partnership, bringing together governments, nongovernmental organizations, and community partners to begin developing a Conservation and Community Development Plan (CCDP)—a roadmap that will guide conservation strategies, financing, and implementation across participating island jurisdictions.

The Nature Conservancy is a founding member of the Enduring Earth Partnership, according to Leberer. Other members include Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund, and ZOMA LAB.

“We will have a regional CCDP, and then there will be different subsections for Palau, Marshall Islands, FSM, Guam, and for CNMI. But all of them will work through the goals of the PFP track, for the goals of the Micronesia Challenge,” Leberer said.

She said the CCDP will outline shared goals across the region, including conserving 30% of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, achieving full ocean management, and strengthening community resilience and livelihoods. It will also break down specific strategies and costs for each participating location, helping to identify funding needs and align commitments from governments and donors.

Leberer emphasized that a key component of the PFP model is the development of sustainable finance mechanisms, such as environmental fees and protected area funds, which generate long-term revenue to support conservation. These mechanisms, alongside international donor contributions, are expected to form the financial backbone of the initiative over time.

Keobel Sakura, interim deputy director for The Nature Conservancy’s Micronesia & Polynesia program, highlighted the scale of the effort, noting that the program spans multiple countries and territories across a vast ocean region.

“It’s a multi-sectoral approach, which we have community representation, non-government representation, government representation, even international representation in the form of NGOs and the UN representation as well. So, it’s really the first time this wide variety of stakeholders have come together to approach a deal like this,” Sakura said.

Sakura said the PFP model presents an opportunity to move away from piecemeal funding toward a coordinated, large-scale investment strategy that brings together government commitments and donor financing into a single agreement.

“Historically we’ve always approached conservation in the region as kind of an ad hoc basis, on a site-by-site basis, on a country-by-country basis. And in 2006, the countries came together and created the Micronesia Challenge, which is a commitment towards conservation, achieving conservation targets, achieving marine protected areas, ridge-to-reef managed areas, at a large scale. And this was revolutionary at its time,” he said.

Sakura said the PFP approach aims to support conservation at the scale required to meet regional and global targets.
“The role that we play as The Nature Conservancy is to bring these two together and agree on that deal and have that funding flow to the countries in a one-time closing deal that’s unprecedented, never been done before, so that these countries can fully manage their areas, fully protect their areas for the long term,” he added.