Utwe

Utwe (or Utwa) is the second-largest municipality in the Micronesian state of Kosrae, the largest being Tafunsak [When Walung is counted as a part of Tafunsak] .

Geography

Utwe occupies the very South of the island, but has no coast on its East border. As of 1994, the total population of Utwe was 1,056. Utwe's capital is Utwa Ma (Utwe Village).

Utwe-Walung Marine Park

Utwe is home to the Utwe-Walung Marine Park, a conservation area established by Madison Nena, a local ecologist who has won several awards, including the 1999 Seacology Prize, awarded annually to an indigenous islander for outstanding achievement in preserving the environment and culture of any of the world's more than 100,000 islands. In the late 1990s, Madison Nena successfully led a campaign to prevent property developers from building a tourist complex without adequate sewage facilities, and in its place he founded an eco-tourism initiative at Kosrae Village Resort. He has also worked with island elders to revitalize historic methods of Kosraen house construction [ [http://www.seacology.org/prize/madison.html 1999 Seacology Prize news release] ] .

The park features excellent examples of healthy hard coral, as well as some of Micronesia's most pristine forests and extensive mangrove ecosystems [ [http://kosraenautilus.com/attractions.html Kosrae Nautilus Resort] ] . The park's main office is close to the shipwreck site of the infamous pirate trader Bully Hayes, and it is rumoured that Hayes buried some treasure somewhere in the forest [ [http://www.pacificmagazine.net/issue/2005/12/01/pacific-travel Pacific Magazine December 2005] ] .

ee also

# Lelu
# Malem
# Tafunsak
# Walung
# Kosrae

References

Maps

* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/australia/kosrae_soil_1981.jpg| General Soil Map of Kosrae produced by the US Department of Agriculture]
* [http://www.micoronesia.homestead.com/kosrae_map.gif| Simple map of Kosrae]

External links

* [http://www.pacificmagazine.net/issue/2005/12/01/pacific-travel Article on Utwe-Walung Marine Park in Pacific magazine]
* [http://www.seacology.org/prize/pastwinners.htm#1999 Seacology profile of Madison Nena]
* [http://www.pbase.com/bolla49/image/56005372 Some photos of Utwe taken by Jan Erik Johnsen]
* [http://www.seacology.org Seacology official website]