New York, September 29, 2009.
The two largest marine protected areas in the world are now linked in partnership to enhance the management and conservation of almost 300,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean. Encompassing 25 percent of all marine protected areas on earth, the two sites – one in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and one near the Equator in Kiribati (say Kee-ree-bass) – enjoy a “sister site” relationship based on an agreement signed recently in New York. Managers of both sites met in November of 09 in French Polynesia to formalise the agreement.
The marine conservation partnership links the Papahanaumokuakea (say Papa-han-ow-mo-ku-ah-kea) Marine National Monument, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in the Republic of Kiribati.
When it was established in 2006, Papahanaumokuakea was the largest marine protected area in the world, covering natural, cultural and historic resources within an area of 140,000 square miles. The monuments extensive coral reefs are inhabited by more than 7,000 marine species, one-quarter of them found only in the Hawaiian Archipelago.
In 2008, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area was founded to protect the Kiribati archipelago’s terrestrial and marine resources. It is now the largest marine protected area in the world covering 158,000 square miles of ocean and islands. The coral reefs and bird populations of these islands of Kiribati are unique and virtually untouched by humans. The protected area also includes underwater seamounts and other deep sea habitats. The Phoenix Islands Protected Area itself is a unique partnership between the government of Kiribati that owns the Phoenix Islands, nongovernmental conservation organisations and regional governments.
Boths sites were nominated this year by their year by their respective governments as World Heritage Sites, a designation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).