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Good practice Imported

Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee — Palau's Statutory Tourism Levy for Protected Areas

Palau · Koror · See the Palau profile · See the Koror profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Palau's statutory $100 Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee, paid by every visitor since 2018, has raised over $13m (2012-2019) and about $7m in FY2025 to fund 39 marine and terrestrial protected areas across all 16 states.

30 USD per visitor
Original Green Fee (2006)
15 USD
Portion of Green Fee earmarked for the PAN Fund (2006-2018)
100 USD per visitor
Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee (since 2018)
>13 million USD
PAN Fund revenue raised (2012-2019)
~7 million USD
Fee revenue generated (FY2025)
~10 million USD/year
Projected annual revenue at full tourism recovery (projected)
88 staff
Protected-area staff funded
39 sites (29 marine, 10 terrestrial)
Protected areas covered
>1,100 km²
Total protected-area coverage
~1,000,000 visitors
Visitors who took the Palau Pledge (by April 2024)
~58 %
Share of PAN annual management costs covered by fee revenue
2 million USD/year
PAN Fund annual allocation cap
Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee — Palau's Statutory Tourism Levy for Protected Areas

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Ministry of Finance, Republic of Palau / Palau Protected Areas Network (PAN) Fund
Period
2006–present (Green Fee); Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee since 2018
Keywords
tourism levy, marine protected areas, conservation trust fund, biodiversity finance

Context

Palau introduced a $30 'Green Fee' in 2006, folded into airline tickets, with $15 of each fee legally earmarked for the Protected Areas Network (PAN) Fund. In 2018 the national legislature (RPPL 10-2) replaced it with the $100 Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee (PPEF), levied on every arriving visitor.

Objectives

To fund sustained management of Palau's marine and terrestrial protected areas through a codified, statutory tourism levy, while also supporting state-level environmental management, fisheries protection and the national airport.

Activities

The law codifies the fee split: $10 to the Fisheries Protection Trust Fund, $12.50 shared among Palau's 16 state governments, $22.50 to the national treasury, $25 to Palau International Airport, and $30 to the PAN Fund and the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (the PAN Fund's own allocation capped at $2 million a year). Of PAN Fund disbursements, about 60% goes to the individual states for site management, 20% to PAN operations and 20% to reserves and special projects.

Results

Between 2012 and 2019, the Green Fee/PPEF mechanism raised more than $13 million for the PAN Fund; the government projected roughly $7 million generated in fiscal year 2025, with the levy expected to yield around $10 million a year at full tourism recovery. The revenue supports 88 protected-area staff managing 39 sites (29 marine, 10 terrestrial) spanning all 16 Palauan states and covering more than 1,100 km², including the Palau National Marine Sanctuary. Nearly one million visitors had taken the accompanying 'Palau Pledge' conservation commitment stamped into their passports by April 2024.

Conclusions

Independent analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Reef Resilience Network cites Palau as a reference model now being studied and adapted by other Pacific and Caribbean island states (and discussed as an option for Hawai'i). The same analyses note a persistent funding gap: dedicated fee revenue covers only around 58% of the PAN's documented annual management costs, leaving roughly $1 million a year to be raised from other sources.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No implementation/administrative cost figures are published; classified low because fee collection is folded into existing airline ticketing and border-arrival processes rather than requiring new dedicated infrastructure — this is an inference, not a stated figure.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — The mechanism has run continuously since 2006 (Green Fee) and 2018 (PPEF), 19+ years to date; classified long.
Staffing & skills
Ministry of Finance, Republic of Palau, Palau Protected Areas Network (PAN) Fund, 16 state governments (recipients of local environmental management funds), Palau International Airport (fee collection point)

Conditions for success

  • Statutory codification of the exact fee-split formula in national law (RPPL 10-2)
  • Integration of fee collection into existing airline ticketing / visitor arrival processes
  • A complementary non-monetary conservation commitment (the 'Palau Pledge') stamped into visitors' passports

Common failure modes

  • Dedicated fee revenue covers only around 58% of the PAN's documented annual management costs, leaving a persistent funding gap of roughly $1 million a year
  • Revenue is tourism-dependent and lags during recovery periods — around $7 million in FY2025 versus a roughly $10 million/year target at full tourism recovery

Where it fits

Governance type
national statutory tourism levy with multi-agency revenue-sharing
Scale
national (all 16 Palauan states)
Income level
small island state (Palau)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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