Recovery planning is a key component of many
threatened species conservation initiatives and can be a
powerful awareness raising tool. One of the largest impediments
to conservation efforts in the Pacific region however, is
the lack of ecological data and its subsequent effects on the
development of feasible and useful recovery plans for
threatened species. Without these plans, the understaffed,
underfunded and often technically ill-equipped conservation
agencies face huge difficulties in planning, prioritizing and
conducting conservation activities to adequately protect
biodiversity. The Fiji sago palm, Metroxylon vitiense, is an
endemic endangered palm species whose survival is heavily
dependent on a feasible species recovery plan. It is geographically
restricted and threatened by habitat destruction
and overexploitation for thatch for the tourism industry and
palm heart consumption by local consumers. Despite its
threatened status, M. vitiense is not currently protected by
national or international legislation. Recent field surveys and
extensive stakeholder consultation have resulted in the production
of a species recovery plan highlighting the importance
of the species and advocating sustainable harvesting rather than complete bans to promote conservation. This
articlesummarizes the recovery plan and its current effects on
the status of M. vitiense in Fiji. We also discuss the role of
different stakeholders in the conservation of M. vitiense,
including the absence of significant behavioral changes by the
largest consumer - the tourismindustry, and the importance of
recovery plans for biodiversity conservation in the Pacific.