Tinian’s Hagoi wetland eyed as a protected area

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved in principle the inclusion of Hagoi, a valuable wetland in the island-municipality of Tinian, in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, otherwise known as the Ramsar List, to help conserve the area.

In a letter to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agree that Hagoi is an important wetland and merits a Ramsar designation based on biological criteria.

However, the governor has to seek a letter of support from the U.S. Navy, which leases the land in question, for designation of Hagoi as a Ramsar site.

Hagoi is the least disturbed depressional wetland of the Northern Marianas. Also, 18 percent of the world’s Mariana common moorhen, known as pulattat, in the local Chamorro language are found in Hagoi.

According to the governor, designating Hagoi as the United States’ 18th wetland to the Ramsar List would bolster the CNMI’s ability to conserve the wetlands’ ecological integrity for the benefit of the future generations.

The Mariana common moorhen, listed as an endangered species under the US Endangered Species Act of 1984, is a wetland-dependent endemic subspecies of the Mariana Islands archipelago. It is one of the seven primary wetlands and wetland complexes inhabited by the Mariana common moorhen.

The CNMI government is committed to actively managing Hagoi in accordance with internationally-accepted principles of the Ramsar Convention, and once it is included in the Ramsar List, the administration would begin developing and implementing an integrated management plan for the wetland, Tenorio said.

Hagoi meets three of the criteria cited in the Convention of Wetlands in identifying wetlands of international importance that can be included in the Ramsar List. It is representative of a near-natural wetland that is characteristic of the region, Tenorio said.

The governor noted that the Department of Navy, the lessor of the land containing Hagoi, was initially concerned that the international designation of the place would potentially restrict the Navy’s military training activities in the vicinity of the wetland.

The U.S. Navy leases the northern two-thirds of Tinian, and Hagoi falls within the Navy’s Exclusive Military Use area. While it periodically conducts training exercises in the area, it has designated the wetland off-limits during training exercises in their Marianas Training Plan.

Tenorio said the military’s use of upland areas adjacent to the wetland will not be restricted as long as these activities do not adversely affect the ecological integrity of the wetland and wetland-dependent wildlife. The CNMI and Office of International Affairs of the US fish Wildlife Service are awaiting the response of the
Navy to determine the future of this internationally important wetland.