Photograph by Paul Nicklen/NGSHow beautiful is that? Via National Geographic News we learn that the Republic of Kiribati has created an enormous marine preserve in the south pacific. Giant Marine Reserve Created in South Pacific
The Republic of Kiribati in the South Pacific has designated an enormous swath of Pacific atolls, coral reefs, and deep ocean to become one of the world's largest marine reserves.
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area safeguards some of the planet's most pristine coral reef ecosystems. The new marine park is the world's third largest, topped only by Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the Northeastern Hawaiian Islands.
The protected region spans some 73,800 square miles (184,700 square kilometers)—a stretch of ocean twice the size of Portugal—and includes eight virtually uninhabited coral atolls.
The reserve is home to a panoply of marine life, including over 120 coral species and more than 500 types of fish—some found nowhere else.
Seabirds and turtles also frequent the region, which lies along key migration routes.
The park includes deep-ocean habitat found in no other marine reserve—protection extends even to seamounts on the ocean floor.
Maxx and I loves us some fishes. And we love that some nations still want to be good stewards of the planet.
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3 comments:
Not to mention some very poor but very smart Pacific Islanders realize what a frickin' goldmine they're gonna have in ecotourism......
Yep. Look at that photo! I know that I want to go.
flory said...
Not to mention some very poor but very smart Pacific Islanders realize what a frickin' goldmine they're gonna have in ecotourism......
Which might bring home how much on a knife-edge Kiribati is, ecologically. A journo who visited it for the Millennium celebrations (Kiribati being closest to the dateline) noted that rising sea levels could wipe out the place as we know it. If more people are aware of it, maybe they'll realise the canary in the mine is already feeling a little stoned.
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