Phoenix Islands Protected Area
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is located in the Republic of Kiribati, an ocean nation in the central Pacific approximately midway between Australia and Hawaii. PIPA constitutes 11.34% of Kiribati's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and with a size of 408,250 km2 (157,630 sq mi), it is one of the largest marine protected areas (MPA) and one of the largest protected areas of any type on Earth. The PIPA was also designated as the world's largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
PIPA represents one of Earth’s last intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems with reefs being what a reef might have looked like one thousand years ago.
Enderbury Island, Phoenix Islands Protected Area
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area is a mostly uninhabited coral archipelago located within a globally biologically important area called the Polynesian-Micronesian hotspot.
Tridacna giant clams in the lagoon of Orona
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. In some situations, MPAs also provide revenue for countries, potentially equal to the income that they would have if they were to grant companies permissions to fish. The value of MPA to mobile species is unknown.
Milford Sound, New Zealand is a strict marine reserve (Category Ia).
The Chagos Archipelago was declared the world's largest marine reserve in April 2010 with an area of 250,000 square miles until March 2015 when It was declared illegal by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Hawaiian waves crashing against rocks on shore.
Asinara, Italy is listed by WDPA as both a marine reserve and a national marine park, and as such could be labelled 'multiple-use'.
