NW Hawaii Becomes World's Biggest Marine Reserve
Date: 16-Jun-06
Country: USA
Author: By Deborah Zabarenko
"We will protect a precious natural resource," President George W. Bush said at a White House ceremony where he declared a string of Pacific islands and submerged volcanoes a national monument.
"We will show our respect for the cultural and historical importance of this area. And we will create an important place for research and learning about how we can be good stewards of our oceans and our environment," Bush said.
With a stroke of a pen, Bush gave immediate protection to an area that stretches across 1,400 miles (2,250 km), covering nearly 140,000 square miles (362,600 sq km), edging out in size Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The monument designation, Bush's first, means a marine area greater in size than 46 of the 50 US states will be sheltered from overfishing, while allowing Hawaiians to use the area for traditional purposes.
The protected area starts about 160 miles (260 km) west of the inhabited Hawaiian island of Kauai and stretches nearly 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Nihoa Island in the east to Kure Atoll in the west. That is roughly equivalent to the distance between Chicago and Miami.
The area includes the world's most remote and relatively undisturbed coral reef ecosystem and supports more than 7,000 species, including more than 100 species unique to those islands, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts' Environment Division, which praised the White House decision.
Important species include the green sea turtle and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, the only surviving marine mammal wholly dependent on coral reefs.
KUDOS FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Even before Bush made it official, ecology watchdog groups were quick to offer kudos, while acknowledging the Bush administration had not previously been noted for its environmental stewardship.
"The administration will have created the world's largest marine protected area and set aside one of the most pristine regions for generations to enjoy and to study," David Festa, director of the oceans program at Environmental Defense, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Unlike the Washington Monument that stands within view of the White House, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Area is remote, uninhabited and difficult for ordinary citizens to visit, but Festa did not consider that a drawback.
"The technology of the 21st century is bringing the opportunity to use remote cameras and other audio-visual technology to really bring these areas into the living rooms of average Americans," Festa said.
An administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the plan before Bush's announcement, confirmed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration planned to help people enjoy the reserve from afar through technology.
While largely uninhabited, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands include Midway, a strategic point in World War Two that has retained its airfield and could be a place for research, education and limited ecotourism, the official said.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Tabassum Zakaria)
