The purpose of this research is to identify the history of natural conservation related to tourism development in the Republic of Palau through literature review and interview survey and to investigate the effectiveness of the current natural conservation polices at two case study sites. The results show that the primitive natural conservation had focused on sustainable use of natural resources by local communities, and it has then turned into wildlife conservation because of the many environmental issues, for example, the severe coral bleaching event, the soil erosion problem caused by new developments, and the environmental degradation by tourist activities. Currently, the unique natural conservation policies are in effect such as Protected Area Network, Micronesia Challenge Endowment Fund, and Green Fee. The national government carries out those policies by means of attracting tourists, who pay the Green Fee, and gathering attention from international society, which donates Micronesia Challenge Endowment Fund. The national government distributes those funds to local communities, which manage their natural resources sustainably as the Protected Area Network sites. The funds are used not only for the conservation objective itself, but also for the purpose of the small community developments such as starting nature tourism projects. The result of this study would be useful for discussing the direction of nature tourism development in Japan.
