Nems Republic of Nauru
NEMS REPUBLIC OF NAURU NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN Prepared by R. R. Thaman and D. C. Hassall and the Department of Island Development and Industry, Nauru in association with the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and with financial assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) South Pacific Regional Environment Programme Apia, Western Samoa 1996 DEDICATION To our Nauruan ancestors who, for over three thousands years, nurtured and cared for our God given island of Nauru as our inheritance, and our children and grandchildren's inheritance for generations and generations to come, and who receive our blessings in their quest for sustainable development. 175 FOREWORD The lessons of the past are clear not only for Nauruans but for the rest of the world as well. Waste not this precious planet, or you shall want. Squander non-renewable resources at your risk. Destroy land, and you destroy human culture. Devastate the forest, and you will lose the coral reef as well, for the forest and the reef are like husband and wife. (extract from Nauru's Plenary Address to the "United Nations Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States", Bridgetown, Barbados, 1994). Our beautiful, productive island of Nauru was bequeathed to us by God, our Heavenly Father. It our is duty to Him and to His children on Nauru to care for and rebuild this priceless gift so that we can live a harmonious sustainable Christian existence forever and ever under his merciful guidance. War and ninety years of phosphate mining have stripped the heart out of Nauru to enrich the soils of other lands.
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