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posted by martyb on Saturday August 27 2016, @02:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the still-smaller-than-Alaska dept.

President Obama is increasing the size of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument by over 316%, to encompass an area more than twice the size of Texas:

On Friday, President Obama will expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii, creating the world's largest marine protected area. Building on the United States' global leadership in marine conservation, today's designation will more than quadruple the size of the existing marine monument, permanently protecting pristine coral reefs, deep sea marine habitats, and important ecological resources in the waters of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.

Following this historic conservation action, the President will travel to Hawaii next week. On Wednesday evening, he will address leaders from the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders and the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which is being hosted in the United States for the first time. On Thursday, he will travel to Midway Atoll, located within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, to mark the significance of this monument designation and highlight first-hand how the threat of climate change makes protecting our public lands and waters more important than ever.

The monument was originally created in 2006 by President George W. Bush and designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Since that time, new scientific exploration and research has revealed new species and deep sea habitats as well as important ecological connections between the existing monument and the adjacent waters. Today's designation will expand the existing Marine National Monument by 442,781 square miles, bringing the total protected area of the expanded monument to 582,578 square miles.

The move follows a similar expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2014.

DOI press release, and more resources at NOAA.

Reported at NPR, National Geographic, NBC, and WBUR.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2016, @10:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2016, @10:13PM (#394050)

    Is this still within the current legal EEZ limits of Hawaiian waters (200 miles from the closest shore of the nearest islands?)

    I will note Britain has done similiar with Pitcairn and the nearby islands, despite the fact that 3 out of 4 are uninhabited, and only 1 other than Pitcairn qualifies as an inhabitable island under UNICLOS statutes.

    The real purpose of all these 'marine protected areas' *IS* territory claims for mineral rights, or blocking competitors from making those claims in the future, rather than actually any interest in protecting the marine environment.

    It is disgusting the level of sickness we have globally regarding ever more expansive land grabs.

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