World
08/17/10
The other “Pacific Solution”
Pacific Island Leaders Agree to Improve Ocean Health at Massive Scale
An unprecedented agreement toward the cooperative stewardship of a vast swath of Pacific Ocean has been reached, and conservationists are heralding it as among the most ambitious, innovative, and collaborative marine initiatives on Earth.
Meeting in Port Villa, Vanuatu at the annual Pacific Islands Leadership Forum, Heads of State and Governments from 15 nations endorsed a draft framework for the long-term, sustainable, and cooperative management of 38.5 million km2 (nearly 24 million square miles) surrounding their collective islands, or comparatively larger than the land size of Canada, the United States and Mexico - combined.
The Framework, called the Pacific Oceanscape, aims to address all ocean issues from governance to climate change, as well as design policies and implement practices that will improve ocean health, increase resources and expertise, and encourage governments to factor ocean issues into decisions about economic and sustainable development. It represents perhaps the largest marine conservation management initiative in history, as measured by countries and area, and a new united Pacific voice on ocean conservation and management.
In a Communiqué announcing the agreement, leaders from Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu agreed to a Pacific Oceanscape framework, and “reiterated the critical importance of ensuring the sustainable development, management and conservation of our oceans.”
The Pacific Oceanscape will address many ocean challenges in the region both in countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) as well as the High Seas connecting them, including climate change, security and enforcement, and the establishment of multi-use marine protected areas.
Working alongside other marine initiatives in the region (eg., the Coral Triangle Initiative, the IUCN Pacific Ocean 2020, the Micronesian Challenge) implementation of the Pacific Oceanscape will help to contribute to wider management of the Pacific Ocean, and organize the region on ocean issues with a holistic approach. The central Pacific contains some of the most pristine and robust coral reefs, islands, seamounts and marine systems remaining in the world today.
With formal adoption of the new Pacific Oceanscape, leaders now hope their demonstrated leadership and success in improving ocean health will spur replication among other governments and regions that depend on the many benefits of a healthy ocean for their own national wellbeing.
Meeting in Port Villa, Vanuatu at the annual Pacific Islands Leadership Forum, Heads of State and Governments from 15 nations endorsed a draft framework for the long-term, sustainable, and cooperative management of 38.5 million km2 (nearly 24 million square miles) surrounding their collective islands, or comparatively larger than the land size of Canada, the United States and Mexico - combined.
The Framework, called the Pacific Oceanscape, aims to address all ocean issues from governance to climate change, as well as design policies and implement practices that will improve ocean health, increase resources and expertise, and encourage governments to factor ocean issues into decisions about economic and sustainable development. It represents perhaps the largest marine conservation management initiative in history, as measured by countries and area, and a new united Pacific voice on ocean conservation and management.
In a Communiqué announcing the agreement, leaders from Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu agreed to a Pacific Oceanscape framework, and “reiterated the critical importance of ensuring the sustainable development, management and conservation of our oceans.”
The Pacific Oceanscape will address many ocean challenges in the region both in countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) as well as the High Seas connecting them, including climate change, security and enforcement, and the establishment of multi-use marine protected areas.
Working alongside other marine initiatives in the region (eg., the Coral Triangle Initiative, the IUCN Pacific Ocean 2020, the Micronesian Challenge) implementation of the Pacific Oceanscape will help to contribute to wider management of the Pacific Ocean, and organize the region on ocean issues with a holistic approach. The central Pacific contains some of the most pristine and robust coral reefs, islands, seamounts and marine systems remaining in the world today.
With formal adoption of the new Pacific Oceanscape, leaders now hope their demonstrated leadership and success in improving ocean health will spur replication among other governments and regions that depend on the many benefits of a healthy ocean for their own national wellbeing.
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