At last week’s United Nations (U.N.) Ocean Conference in France, French Polynesia announced the creation of what will be the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) while Samoa adopted a plan that will include the establishment of nine new fully protected MPAs.

Published 13 hours ago

French Polynesia Announces World’s Largest Marine Protected Area

Source:  Time.com

French Polynesia announced the creation of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA), at the U.N. Ocean Conference in Nice, France.  The MPA will cover the entirety of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), almost 5 million square kilometers (more than 1.9 million square miles) and will restrict extractive practices like deep-sea mining and bottom-trawling, a destructive type of fishing that drags large nets along the seafloor.

Of that 5 million, 1.1 million square kilometers (424,712 square miles) will be designated as a highly or fully protected area, known as class 1 and 2, where only traditional coastal fishing, ecotourism and scientific exploration, will be allowed. The government has also pledged to add an additional 500,000 square kilometers (193, 051 square miles) to the highly protected area by World Ocean Day 2026.

“We have been managing this EEZ wisely for centuries, using the techniques that were passed on from the generations before us and our ancestors,” French Polynesia’s President, Moetai Brotherson, told TIME. “But now we wanted to take a bold step to be in line with the international standards of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).”

IUCN standards for MPAs require the area to include, among other things, defined goals and objectives for conservation along with ensuring the resources and capacity to effectively implement. Research has shown that MPAs help marine animals recover within their boundaries, and could prove a useful tool for supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation.

French Polynesia has been steadfast in its efforts to conserve its exclusive economic zone. In 2018, the country announced that it would classify the entirety of its EEZ as a Managed Marine Area.

This announcement, Brotherson says, builds on those efforts by increasing the level of conservation. “There were some measures of protection that didn’t match the IUCN standards,” Brotherson says. “So we upgraded our local regulation to match all the standards of the IUCN.”

“This is an extraordinary achievement and a globally significant contribution to the protection of our One Ocean,” Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General, said in a statement. “By prioritizing biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and future generations, French Polynesia has set a new standard for leadership in marine conservation. These commitments show that small Island territories can have a massive impact on global sustainability.”

Much remains to be done

Research from Dynamic Planet and National Geographic Pristine Seas found that 85 new marine protected areas would need to be created daily from now until 2030 in order to meet the goal of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030, as set by the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People in 2020 and signed by over 100 countries. So far, only 8.3% of the ocean is currently protected as MPAs.

Ahead of the U.N. Ocean Conference, Samoa also announced that it would protect 30% of its national waters, an area roughly the size of Taiwan. Small island nations, Brotherson says, should be on the frontlines when it comes to ocean protection.

“(Island nations) EEZs account for 7% of all the ocean surface, but we have only 0.1% of the total GDP in the world,” he says. “We don’t have the financial means that match the responsibility that we have towards the ocean.”

But Brotherson notes that international cooperation is essential to ensure protections are enacted. “It’s very important to us that big countries, big players, large NGOs, can help us implement the measures that we vote [on],” he says. “Because it’s one thing to pass a law. It’s another story to make sure that it is respected.”

Samoa Adopts Plan to Establish Nine MPAs

Source:  Radio New Zealand

One the eve of the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, France, Samoa adopted a legally binding Marine Spatial Plan – a step to fully protect 30 percent of its national waters and to ensure sustainable management of 100 percent of its ocean.

The plan includes the establishment of nine new fully protected MPAs, covering 36,000 square kilometres of ocean.

Toeolesulsulu Cedric Schuster, Samoa’s Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, said Samoa is a large ocean state and its way of life is under increased threat from issues including climate change and overfishing.

“This Marine Spatial Plan marks a historic step towards ensuring that our ocean remains prosperous and healthy to support all future generations of Samoans – just as it did for us and our ancestors.”

Samoa’s ocean is filled with deep trenches, underwater seamounts, and coral reefs teeming with life. The new MPAs have been established to protect a place that is home to a number of critically endangered and endangered species, including the hawksbill sea turtle, spinner dolphins, blue sharks and Taei’s dwarfgoby – a fish found only on Samoan reefs. It is also a migration route for humpback whales.

………………………………

Related News:

• French Polynesia Creates World’s Largest Marine Protected Area (Time.com)
• Value Oceans, Don’t Plunder Them says French Polynesia Leader (AFP)
• French Polynesia President Announces Highly Protected Marine Area (RNZ)
• Samoa Protects Oceans with new Marine Spatial Plan (Oceanographic Magazine)
• Samoa’s Oceans Protected with Marine Spatial Plan (MongaBay)

………………………………

Noonsite has not independently verified this information.

Find out all news, reports, links and comments posted on Noonsite, plus cruising information from around the world, by subscribing to our FREE monthly newsletter. Go to https://www.noonsite.com/newsletter/.