And Atoll Biosphere Reserve

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, inscribed 2007, in Micronesia (Federated States of). And Atoll lies in the Federated States of Micronesia, within the Caroline Islands tropical moist forests ecoregion. The oceanic islands and surrounding reefs of this region form one of the world’s most biologically diverse seascapes. And Atoll comprises a ring of low, narrow, forested islets around an enclosed lagoon, with steep outer reef slopes and a navigable southern reef pass that drains the lagoon on the falling tide. And Atoll is Pohnpei’s most biologically diverse and least disturbed atoll, ranked the island’s number one Marine Area of Biological Significance and one of 24 priority action areas in the ecoregional plan under the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The reserve seeks to model sustainability by harmonising local economic activity with the atoll’s slower-changing ecology, offering an example for Micronesia and the Pacific, and enabling enduring livelihoods without loss of ecological diversity, complexity or function.