Palau’s vibrant Helen Reef is a magnet for poachers. These rangers keep it safe

HELEN ISLAND, Palau (AP) — The handful of rangers who protect one of Earth’s most remote and biologically diverse reefs have only each other for company for months at a time. They worry about running out of gas for boat patrols, their drinking water can get dangerously low and rising seas are nipping away at the tiny island that hosts their station.

On the plus side, the fishing is amazing — and they’re the only people allowed to do it.

Helen Reef, a 40-square-mile atoll at the southern limit of Palau, is home to precious plants and animals that include the Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish, hawksbill sea turtles and sea cucumbers. More than 500 other fish species, giant clams, sharks, manta rays and hundreds of hard and soft coral species thrive in its protected waters. On Helen Island, the scrap of the atoll that lies a few feet above sea level, the sky fills with thousands of birds including boobies, frigate birds and terns, and green sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach during nesting season in July.

That rich sea life is a magnet for poachers, which is where the Hatohobei State Rangers come in. Four rangers at a time, generally in three-month rotations, scratch out a life on what’s little more than a sandbar as they carry out regular patrols to protect the reef in accordance with Palau national law.

“It’s a reef our ancestors used to go to and harvest food for the community back in the days,” said Hercules Emilio, a senior conservation officer and 17-year ranger. “So to us, now we are still conserving the resources that we have there, that’s why we do the enforcement.”

The rangers and their supplies — gasoline, food, toilet paper, lumber, batteries, dog food and more — arrive four times a year via a chartered