Current projects include efforts to create marine reserves in New Caledonia, the Austral Islands of French Polynesia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Ascension Island, and to complete the process to create two marine protected areas (MPAs) that governments have announced: Australia’s Coral Sea Marine Park and the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary in New Zealand. MPAs that governments have already designated as a result of our work include Rapa Nui Marine Protected Area and Motu Motiro Hiva Marine Park in Chile, and Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park in Mexico.
Ascension Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, located in the South Atlantic Ocean midway between Angola and Brazil. It forms part of the U.K. Overseas Territory of St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha.
Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy: Ascension Island
The waters around French Polynesia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean, are home to 21 species of sharks and an exceptional coral reef system that supports 176 coral and 1,024 fish species.
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New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean, is home to an incredible array of marine life, including more than 1,700 fish and 473 coral species, and one of the world’s largest lagoons.
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The remarkable ecological and geological landscape of the Revillagigedo Archipelago earned the island chain in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016.
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South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands lie more than 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from the southern tip of South America in a remote expanse of the South Atlantic Ocean.
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The waters of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago cover a vast area in the South Atlantic Ocean nearly three times the size of the United Kingdom’s mainland.
Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy: Tristan da Cunha
