Photo: Narno Beats // Unsplash
There is no wave in the world quite like Teahupo’o, and a new announcement from the French Polynesian government will go toward protecting that. The Tahitian break, which recently played host to the sport’s second-ever appearance in the Olympic Games, will now be part of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA).
The announcement was made Monday, at the third U.N. Ocean Conference, where scientists and government officials from around the world (but not the United States) have gathered in Nice, France, to address a wide range of issues regarding ocean conservation. The MPA will cover the entirety of French Polynesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) – over 1.9 million square miles. This will restrict extractive practices like deep-sea mining and bottom-trawling.
“In French Polynesia, the ocean is much more than a territory: it is a source of life, culture, and identity,” French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson told attendees of the UN Ocean summit on Monday. “By strengthening the protection of Tainui Atea (the existing marine managed area that encompasses all French Polynesian waters) and laying the foundations for future marine protected areas in the Austral, Marquesas, Gambier, and Society Islands, we are asserting our ecological sovereignty while creating biodiversity sanctuaries for our people and future generations.”
The majority of that area will be under “minimum protection,” including Teahupo’o. However, a smaller part of that region, approximately 350,000 square miles, will be designated as a “highly protected area,” as Radio France Internationale reports. This includes 85,000 square miles of waters near the Society Islands and 101,000 square miles around the Gambier Islands. In that portion, all extraction, such as fishing and mining, will be prohibited.
Additionally, the French Polynesian government is creating 72,000 square miles of artisanal fishing zones around the Austral, Marquesas, Gambier Islands, and Society Islands. These areas will limit fishing to traditional line fishing, using a boats less than 40 feet long.
The country has also promised to add an additional 193,051 square miles to that more restrictive zone, as TIME reports.
“We have been managing this EEZ wisely for centuries, using the techniques that were passed on from the generations before us and our ancestors,” Brotherson told TIME. “But now we wanted to take a bold step to be in line with the international standards of the [International Union for Conservation of Nature] IUCN.”
