Once the largest Marine Protected Area in the world (the UK’s Chagos Protected Area surpassed it in 2010), the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) encompasses more than 400,000 square kilometers, safeguarding coral reefs and other habitat for sea animals in the Pacific. The islands within the Marine Protected Area provide nesting habitat for endangered and threatened seabirds and are the last stronghold of many rare plant species used in local traditional medicine.
Pacific Island Coral Reefs and Marine Wildlife Protected
Working with staff from the New England Aquarium and Conservation International, the government of Kiribati created the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2006. Since then, the marine reserve has doubled its size, safeguarding the last intact oceanic coral archipelago in the world.
But this conservation effort came with a cost; commercial fishing revenues from other countries were sacrificed, although some local subsistence fishing is still allowed. Conservation International and the New England Aquarium are assisting in developing sustainable economic projects to help compensate for the lost income.
The creation of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area ensures that overfishing and coastal development do not threaten marine life conservation in the area. Kiribati also broke new ground with their Marine Protected Area by including large areas of deep–water habitat. And then went a step further, entering into an agreement with another major marine reserve. Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, encompassing nearly 300,000 square kilometers about 1,600 kilometers north of PIPA, is being managed cooperatively with PIPA to make an even greater impact on the conservation of wildlife in both marine reserves.
Migratory Seabirds, Fish, Sea Turtles and Marine Mammals Share Marine Reserves
Many species of marine wildlife are highly migratory, making cooperation between marine reserves an important aspect of marine life conservation. Just as wildlife corridors on land are critical to the survival of many threatened and endangered species, a system of marine reserves increases the availability of protected habitat for migratory marine wildlife.
As climate change and rising sea levels reduce the number of places where seabirds and sea turtles can nest, these marine protected areas will become more and more important. The reserves also serve as buffers against increasing ocean acidification.
Marine Reserves Important for Global Ocean Conservation
Other marine protected areas, including the Chagos Protected Area in the Indian Ocean and the Prince Edward Islands Marine Protected Area off of South Africa, provide potential for further links in this aquatic wildlife corridor. The joint management plan has further value, however, in that information shared between the two sites may provide more insight into the movements of various marine wildlife species and ways of better protecting them and their environment.
Dawn M. Smith - A vet nurse, Dawn has worked in wildlife rehabilitation and conservation around the world in addition to her veterinary hospital ...
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