Severe weather conditions have been expected across the Pacific with the recent hurricane forecast from the NOAA predicting a stronger El Niño season.
Storms have already battered island communities in the Western Pacific, where island communities are still undergoing cleanup and recovery efforts after Super Typhoon Sinlaku struck in April.
To learn more about land and marine conservation in the region, HPR spoke with a regional leader from The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit. For him, the devastation from the storm was “eye-opening.”
Keobel Sakuma was recently named the executive director of The Nature Conservancy’s Micronesia and Polynesia chapter. He is based out of Palau, where he spent years working for the Palauan government and helped create and lead the Palau National Marine Sanctuary.
Sakuma spoke with HPR about his priorities for land and marine conservation in the Pacific.
This story aired on The Conversation on May 21, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
