July 14, 2017 Environmentalist Kevin Iro has been campaigning for the creation of the Cook Island's marine sanctuary Marae Moana for more than five years
The Cook Islands has created one of the world's largest marine sanctuaries, protecting a vast swathe of the Pacific Ocean more than three times the size of France.
Legislation setting up the 1.9 million square kilometre (735,000 square mile) reserve passed through the tiny nation's parliament late Thursday.
Environmentalist Kevin Iro, who first proposed the idea more than five years ago, said it was a landmark achievement that would help preserve the ocean for future generations.
"It's a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing," he told AFP.
The Cook Islands has a population of just 10,000 and its 15 islands have a combined landmass of 236 sq km, barely the size of Washington DC.
But its isolated position in the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with no near neighbours, means it has a huge maritime territory.
Iro said Cook Islanders had an affinity with the ocean and viewed it as sacred but overfishing and pollution had damaged the marine environment, including the coral reefs that once ringed all the islands.
He said the marine reserve, known as Marae Moana, would give the environment a chance to heal, allowing the islanders to protect their legacy.
"When I moved back here (from New Zealand) about 16 years ago I saw what was happening to the lagoons and reefs and really wanted to protect them for my kids," he said.
"I want them to have the same experience I did as a boy growing up."
The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner.
However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island.
Prime Minister Henry Puna said Marae Moana provided a blueprint for managing ocean environments worldwide.
"Together we had a vision to turn our little country into the cleanest and greenest tourism destination in the whole wide world," the Cook Islands News quoted him as telling parliament.
"We not only recognise that the ocean brings us revenue in terms of fishery and tourism and potentially sea bed minerals - it also provides us with clean air, clean water, and clean food to nourish and sustain us."
Puna's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Explore further: Cook Islands declares world's largest marine park
2017 AFP
The Cook Islands announced the creation of world's largest marine park at the opening of the Pacific Islands Forum, a vast swathe of ocean almost twice the size of France.
An ambitious plan to link marine parks across a vast swathe of oceanwhose surface area would equal that of the Moonis slowly coming together piece by piece, say conservationists.
The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau created a vast marine sanctuary the size of Spain on Wednesday, banning fishing across the bulk of its waters to preserve the ocean for future generations.
Britain on Thursday announced plans to double the area of ocean under marine protection around the country's overseas territories to a size greater than the landmass of India.
Britain on Wednesday said it intended to create what will be the world's biggest fully-protected marine reserve, covering an area nearly the size of France and Germany put together in the Pacific Ocean.
Victoria University of Wellington student Lea Raymond is gaining new insights into a Cook Islands "brain drain", as part of her Master of Development Studies.
Land mammals and reptiles in the Pacific islands facing extinction due to habitat loss, hunting and other threats could be decimated by climate change, a study published Thursday said.
More than 170 years after Edgar Allan Poe's fictional raven croaked, "Nevermore," scientists are reporting that real-life ravens think about the future.
Stress is a major risk factor for a range of psychopathologies. However, stress does not affect everyone equally: in the face of sustained adversity, some people develop depression symptoms while others adapt and remain resilient. ...
Scientists have made an important step in understanding how cells keep themselves clean and healthy - a finding that may have implications for combating neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
Squirrels can remember problem-solving techniques for long periods and can apply them to new situations, researchers have discovered.
The malaria parasite's success is owed to the stripping down of its genome to the bare essential genes, scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their collaborators have found. In the first ever large-scale study ...
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Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean reserve - Phys.Org
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