Pew Applauds Expansion of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

U.S. expands Northwestern Hawaiian Islands reserve, creating world's largest protected area

HONOLULU, Aug. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pew Charitable Trusts joins partners in Hawaii and the scientific community in praising today's announcement by President Barack Obama that the United States has expanded the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, also known as Papahānaumokuākea, to 582,578 square miles (1.5 million square kilometers).

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The action creates the largest protected area in the world and expands the original monument by more than 442,760 square miles (1.15 million square kilometers). The area now covered is almost four times as large as California.

Today's announcement builds on steps taken by six presidents—starting with Theodore Roosevelt and including three Republicans and three Democrats—to conserve the ecosystems and wildlife of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2006, President George W. Bush designated the islands and the surrounding waters a national marine monument, marking the first time a large area of ocean had been set aside for protection in the United States, which has a long history of establishing national parks on land. At the time, Papahānaumokuākea was the largest marine reserve in the world. Subsequently, more than a dozen large-scale highly protected marine reserves have been created around the globe, including nine larger than the original Hawaiian monument.

"Papahānaumokuākea inspired an international movement to safeguard large areas of ocean and create the world's first generation of great parks in the sea," said Joshua S. Reichert, an executive vice president at Pew who oversees strategy for its Global Ocean Legacy project. "By expanding the monument, President Obama has increased protections for one of the most biologically and culturally significant places on the planet."

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) agreed. "Expanding Papahānaumokuākea makes a definitive statement about Hawaii's and the United States' commitment to ocean conservation. By adopting my proposal to expand the monument, President Obama has created a safe zone that will replenish stocks of tuna, promote biodiversity, and fight climate change, and he has given Native Hawaiians a greater voice in managing this precious resource," Schatz said.