We believe community-led resource management lasts when their leadership is fully committed and supported by enduring partnerships, dependable finance and technical assistance.
The Reey Conservation Area Management Committee (RCA) and OneReef Worldwide Stewardship have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the community’s continued protection and management of the Reey Resources Management Area (Reey RMA). Reey was established in 2011 and is co-owned and managed by the villages of Mal’ay, Kanifay Municipality and Thabeth, Gilman Municipality.
For Reey, the MOU marked a continued commitment to sustain work the community was already leading for the past 15 years. It formalizes work that OneReef and Reey have been doing together for many years. The signing took place during a ceremony at Mal’ay Village on September 6, 2026.
Patrick Sogaw, a founding Member of Reey RMA, Chief of Thabeth Village, at the MOU signing said, “We welcome and thank OneReef, our communities and neighbors and technical partners for their support over the years. Working on this together is key to the success of our program and safeguarding our way of life.”
OneReef’s Chief Executive Officer Lida Teneva, Director of Programs Martin Romain and Yap Program Director Vanessa Fread attended the event and met with community members, traditional chiefs, Reey management representatives and members of the Yap Locally Managed Area Network (LMAN). OneReef was honored to support and stand alongside the community as it protects its marine and land areas for present and future generations.
Lida Teneva said, “It is a privilege to be here and pay my humble respects to the Chiefs and elders who are dedicated to the Reey RMA. On behalf of OneReef, it’s my pleasure to sign this MOU and strengthen our partnership for the future.”
Under the MOU, OneReef will work alongside the Reey community to help advance its management plan and connect locally determined priorities with practical, long-term support. This will include strengthening the partnership, supporting implementation and communications, and helping create the conditions for the community’s resource management efforts to endure.
The visit to Yap from the OneReef team included a field visit to the Nimpal Channel Marine Conservation Area (MCA) and the Weloy Forest Reserve. They also met with representatives from the Weloy Executive Council, Weloy Forest Stewardship Working Group, Ngulu Atoll Resource Council, Nimpal Channel MCA Core Group, Yap State Department of Resources and Development and Gachpar MPA Core Group, which provided an opportunity to learn directly from local partners, better understand conservation work already underway and discuss community needs for sustainability.
The Reey partnership also advanced one of OneReef’s most important regional priorities: helping community-led managed areas gain sustained institutional support.
OneReef Worldwide Stewardship’s support to Reey is part of a wider initiative for community-led resource stewardship across the Pacific. OneReef collaborates with partners in Kosrae and Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia, in Palau, in the Marshall Islands, in Bora Bora, French Polynesia and in Kiribati.
