Archived Project

Global Ocean Legacy

Hawaii

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Global Ocean Legacy

When the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was established in 2006, it was the largest highly protected marine reserve in the world at 139,818 square miles (362,127 square kilometers). Creation of the monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands received bipartisan support in the United States and was followed by the designation of more than a dozen large-scale marine parks around the world, nine larger than this initial effort. As a result, nearly 2 percent of the world’s oceans are set aside with strong protections. Although this is important progress, scientists recommend protecting at least 30 percent.

In 2016, a group of native Hawaiians, with the help of Pew’s Global Ocean Legacy project, urged President Barack Obama to expand the monument by 442,760 square miles (1.15 million square kilometers). Obama did just that in August 2016, making Papahānaumokuākea the largest permanently protected area in the world on land or sea. Enlarging the monument brought the world a step closer to reaching global conservation targets and locked in protection of important ecosystems and wildlife in the Pacific Ocean.

Listen to the correct pronunciation of Papahānaumokuākea, and learn more about its meaning.

Our Work

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Project

Le projet Héritage des océans de Pew et Bertarelli

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Project

De la chaleur de l'équateur au froid rigoureux des pôles, les océans sont le lien qui unit notre planète. Représentant plus de 70 pour cent de la surface terrestre, ils abritent près d'un quart des espèces connues dans le monde, sans compter celles qui restent encore à découvrir. Mais les océans sont de plus en plus menacés par les activités humaines.

Podcast

Our Blue Planet–Protecting the Ocean

Episode 6

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Podcast

Three-quarters of our planet is covered with water—and it’s this water that sustains life. But our liquid planet, home to half of the world’s known creatures and plants, is facing multiple threats, such as overfishing and commercial development. That’s why leading scientists say that 30 percent of our oceans should be protected. Host Dan LeDuc explores why this 30 percent data point is important with two people committed to safeguarding the oceans: native Hawaiian Sol Kaho’ohalahala, whose culture and livelihood depend on sustainable seas; and Matt Rand, who directs the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project and has been working with people like Kaho’ohalahala since 2006 to keep our oceans healthy.

Where We Work
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Global Ocean Legacy works with local communities, governments and scientists around the world to protect and conserve some of our most important and unspoiled ocean environments.

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Global Ocean Legacy works with local communities, governments and scientists around the world to protect and conserve some of our most important and unspoiled ocean environments.

Learn More