French Polynesia is walling off 200,000 square miles of ocean for conservation – twice the size of Arizona.
- French Polynesia will fully protect 200,000 square miles of ocean, about twice the size of Arizona, near the Austral, Marquesas, and Western Society islands.
- The move lifts the nation’s total protected ocean to about 540,500 square miles and meets the global ‘30 by 30’ conservation goal.
- Local communities keep fishing in traditional artisanal zones using small pole-and-line boats.
The Pacific nation is going all-in for the marine wildlife by fully protecting 200,000 square miles of water packed with sharks, whales, seabirds and species found nowhere else on Earth.
The new preserve – the Te Tai Nui a Hau Marine Protected Area – sits near the Austral, Marquesas and Western Society islands.
That pushes the country’s total protected ocean to about 540,500 square miles – twice the size of Texas.
Once it’s live, 30% of French Polynesia’s waters will be off-limits to drilling, mining and industrial fishing – smashing the global ‘30 by 30’ target years early.
And it didn’t steamroll the locals. The plan carves out thousands of square miles where islanders can keep fishing the old way with single pole-and-line, from boats under 12 meters, about 39 feet.
“This announcement reflects French Polynesia’s commitment to protecting our ocean for future generations while supporting the communities that depend on it,” said Taivini Teai, the territory’s minister of agriculture, marine resources, and environment, in remarks reported by Good News Network.
His goal, he says, is to prove “ambitious ocean protection and local livelihoods can go hand in hand.”
The mega-reserve is more than a decade in the making, bankrolled by heavy hitters including the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, the Bezos Earth Fund and the Wyss Foundation.
“Communities across the Austral and Marquesas islands have spent years shaping a collective vision for conserving their ocean that reflects both their cultural traditions and their future needs,” said Donatien Tanret, who leads Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy’s work in French Polynesia.
President Moetai Brotherson wants it to be the world’s blueprint for big ocean protection, built on local know-how.
