The president of Palau signed legislation Wednesday designating a reserve that’s about 193,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) in size. This makes it one of the five largest fully protected marine areas in the world. PHOTO: National Geographic
The Chilean government recently announced that it has created the largest marine reserve in the Americas by protecting an area hundreds of miles off its coast roughly the size of Italy. The new area, called the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, constitutes about eight percent of the ocean areas worldwide that have been declared off-limits to fishing and governed by no-take protections. Now, the Pacific island nation of Palau has resolved to protect nearly 80% of its oceans.
Palau’s Congress had recently signed off on keeping 80 percent of its territorial waters from any extractive activities, including fishing and mining. The remaining 20 percent would remain open to fishing by locals and a limited number of small commercial operations.
“Island communities have been among the hardest hit by the threats facing the ocean,” Remengesau said in an earlier statement. “Creating this sanctuary is a bold move that the people of Palau recognize as essential to our survival.”
The country’s waters are home to over 1,300 species of fish, about 700 species of hard and soft corals, and marine lakes that host hordes of non-stinging jellyfish. Palauans have a long history of bul, or setting aside smaller reef areas during fish spawning and feeding periods as a way of giving those populations time to recover from fishing practices. The federal government has now effectively extended that practice to encompass the majority of the country’s ocean.
Stunning images of Palau’s ocean wealth here.
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