Palau Makes Visitors Sign Pledge To Respect The Nature

The tiny Pacific island-nation of Palau, with a population of only 21,500, is famous for its natural beauties and around 500 pristine small islands forming the archipelago. It has now introduced a new law requiring visitors to sign a pledge not to harm the environment before entering the country.

Visitors will be required to sign before proceeding through immigration, making a formal promise to the children of Palau to “preserve and protect your beautiful and unique island home”, and to “tread lightly, act kindly and explore lightly”, according to the Guardian article.

The pledge will be stamped in the passports of the international visitors and already 6,000 people signed it.

As an island nation, Palau has been extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Tommy Remengesau, the nation's president, is a vocal environmental campaigner.

“While Palau may be a small-island nation, we are a large ocean-state and conservation is at the heart of our culture,” he said. “We rely on our environment to survive and if our beautiful country is lost to environmental degradation, we will be the last generation to enjoy both its beauty and life-sustaining biodiversity,” he said.