Palau is composed of hundreds of low-lying islands, many with sandy beaches and/or highly erodible soil.  Little is known about the extent of coastal erosion in Palau and there is a general concern about the loss of area from many of Palau's shorelines.  Shoreline erosion has occurred in many attractable recreational and tourist beach areas in the Rock Islands of Palau. The state and the National Government have expressed their concern of these beaches as large numbers of tourists visit these Rock Islands per day.  Not only are water activities in Rock Islands a major attraction to tourists but also a great source of revenue to Palau and therefore there is an urgent need to address the shoreline issues.

A 41 year of sea level record for Malakal, Palau, shows a trend of +1.8 mm per year. Compared to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4, 2007), estimates of global average long-term sea level rise over the last hundred years are in the order of 1 to 2 mm per year. Current regional sea level patterns in the central and southwest pacific over the past 50 to 100 years indicates sea level are subject to large interannual variations of +/- 0.45 m driven by ENSO Cycles (Church et al., 2006).

Many of the beaches in the Rock Islands and along the eastern coast of Babeldaob have noticeably eroded in recent years.  Some of the erosion is marked by the dead and toppled trees that once grew along the edges of the beaches.

When faced with erosion, building walls are a common response because visitors are attracted to the Rock Islands and its un-spoilt natural beauty; however, these walls have significant maintenance costs and they often disturb the surrounding shoreline leading to more erosion and the need for additional walls and structures.