Palau asks visitors to 'explore lightly'

The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau has introduced a new law requiring visitors to sign a pledge not to harm the environment before entering the country.

The pledge will be stamped into the passports of international arrivals from this month.

Visitors will be required to sign before proceeding through immigration, making a formal promise to the children of Palau to “preserve and protect your beautiful and unique island home”, and to “tread lightly, act kindly and explore lightly”.

Almost 6,000 people signed in the first two weeks.

It’s the first time such a pledge has been written into a country’s immigration policies, but Palau has long been vocal about the environment.

Read The Guardian article.