By FRANCISCO E. PALACIOS
Special to the Saipan Tribune
Hafa Adai CNMI! My name is Francisco E. Palacios and today you will hear about my experience at CRM as an education and outreach intern. As some of you already know, CRM stands for Coastal Resources Management. The office was established to promote the conservation and wise development of coastal resources. I am very fortunate to have been accepted into this program and will try to make my time here worthwhile as I strive to absorb vital working experiences beneficial to my future.
Being an intern at CRM is more than just reaching out and educating people. It starts with finding yourself and taking in what you feel is truly important. The staff here have done a great job in opening my eyes to our islands' true beauty and what we can do to keep it that way.
Since I started this internship program, I have done a number of things. So far, I have helped put together an “A-Z booklet” that targets the CNMI elementary and junior high students. The strategy was to make this booklet fun and interesting for everybody! When you first see this booklet, expect fun and interesting information provided for each letter. In addition, this booklet will also contain some Chamorro vocabulary. With this idea we sought to create more booklets just like this, but in different languages so that we target other groups in the CNMI.
My favorite assignment at CRM was coming up with a script for a radio advertisement about our coral reefs that will encourage and motivate the people of the CNMI to take part in maintaining, preserving and protecting the health of our ocean. Although only a few lines long, I believe that the words are motivating, influential and will be effective in changing peoples perception of certain environmental issues, especially dealing with our reefs.
The most recent task I got my hands on was designing a “Fishing Poster”, which will show people through pictures and words the legal fishing methods versus the illegal fishing methods that are strictly prohibited here in the CNMI. Before beginning this internship at CRM, I had very little knowledge of fishing regulations here in the CNMI. For example, did you know that you must get a license and registration tag for your talaya or throw net? Or did you know that people actually use explosives, electric shocking devices and poison to fish, not knowing that they can severely damage our coral reef environment and its inhabitants? I didn't. That is why I personally believe this poster project will serve well for the community in raising awareness on our local fishing regulations.
Other activities I have been involved include monitoring of our local reef flats. Careful observation and working together is essential in evaluating these areas, because the information and data collected will serve as useful resources in the future. So aside from working independently in the office, this program has also pushed me to practice my skills in working with groups. Two heads are better than one and CRM has done a good job of expressing that to me.
This summer, I have acquired much understanding about our islands' natural beauty. I learned more about our local laws and their importance to the environment. In such a short amount of time I developed a sense of appreciation for the world around me and what we can do to make a difference. The act of reaching out and educating in a fun and effective way is the results of careful, creative and professional planning. Maybe one day, what I have gained here will guide me in making positive changes around the world, especially here in my home, Saipan.
