World's Largest Marine Protected Area Created In Pacific Ocean

[MWAIE]

Kiribati has become a global conservation leader by establishing the
world's largest marine protected area - a California-sized ocean
wilderness of pristine coral reefs and rich fish populations
threatened by over-fishing and climate change.

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) conserves one of the Earth's
last intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems, consisting of eight
coral atolls and two submerged reef systems in a nearly uninhabited
region of abundant marine and bird life. The 410,500-square-kilometer
(158,453-square-mile) protected area also includes underwater
mountains and other deep-sea habitat.

Kiribati first declared the creation of PIPA at the 2006 Conference of
the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Brazil. On
January 30, 2008, Kiribati adopted formal regulations for PIPA that
more than doubled the original size to make it the largest marine
protected area on Earth.

Kiribati and the New England Aquarium (NEAq) developed PIPA over
several years of joint scientific research, with funding and technical
assistance from Conservation International's (CI) Global Conservation
Fund and Pacific Islands Program. The CI support for PIPA is part of
the Coral Reef Initiative in the South Pacific (CRISP).

"Kiribati has taken an inspirational step in increasing the size of
PIPA well beyond the original eight atolls and globally important
seabird, fish and coral reef communities," said Greg Stone, the NEAq
vice-president of global marine programs. "The new boundary includes
extensive seamount and deep sea habitat, tuna spawning grounds, and as
yet unsurveyed submerged reef systems."

Located near the equator in the Central Pacific between Hawaii and
Fiji, the Phoenix Islands form an archipelago several hundred miles
long. They are part of the Republic of Kiribati, which comprises three
distinct island groups (Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands, and Line
Islands) with a total of 33 islands to make it the largest atoll
nation in the world.

"The creation of this amazing marine protected area by a small island
nation in the Pacific represents a commitment of historic
proportions; and all of this by a country that is under serious
threat from sea-level rise attributed to global warming," said CI
President Russell A. Mittermeier. "The Republic of Kiribati has now
set a standard for other countries in the Pacific and elsewhere in the
world. We are proud to be associated with this effort that helps the
people of Kiribati, and we call on governments and private
conservation groups everywhere to support Kiribati in its efforts and
make similar commitments to protect their own natural systems."

Three NEAq-led research expeditions since 2000 found great marine
biodiversity, including more than 120 species of coral and 520 species
of fish, some new to science. Some of the most important seabird
nesting populations in the Pacific, as well as healthy fish
populations and the presence of sea turtles and other species,
demonstrated the pristine nature of the area and its importance as a
migration route.

Protecting the Phoenix Islands means restricting commercial fishing in
the area, resulting in a loss of revenue that the Kiribati government
would normally receive from issuing foreign commercial fishing
licenses. NEAq and CI are helping Kiribati design an endowment system
that will cover the core recurring management costs of PIPA and
compensate the government for the foregone commercial fishing license
revenues. The plan allows for subsistence fishing by resident
communities and other sustainable economic development in designated
zones of the protected area.

Keeping oceans and marine ecosystems intact and healthy allows them to
better resist the impacts of climate change and continue their natural
role of sequestering atmospheric carbon that causes global warming.

Source:
ScienceDaily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214080527.htm

Adapted from materials provided by Conservation International.
http://www.conservation.org/