Opinion: Pacific nations lead sea-change in ocean conservation

Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Protecting the oceans – 16 tiny island nations in the Pacific Ocean met last week to discuss protecting 10% of the world's seas.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Protecting ocean paradise – A lagoon viewed from a mountain top in New Caledonia. The Pacific island state announced last month that it will creat a 1.4 million kilometer marine conservation zone. The Cook Islands have created a marine park the size of Egypt.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Blue heritage – The newly created marine protected area encompasses New Caledonia's 1.5 million hectare UNESCO World Heritage site.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Fiji's coral reefs – The Pacific Oceanscape is an ambitious intitiative to preserve and sustainably manage an area covering 10% of the world's oceans.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Papua New Guinea – The Pacific Oceanscape was set up in 2009 at the Pacific Island Forum in 2009 attended by 15 Pacific region governments.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Kiribati on the frontline – Rising sea levels threaten the very existence of the tiny island nation, located halfway between Australia and Hawaii. In 2006 Kiribati's president Anote Tong created a no-fishing, protected area the size of California.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
Saving coral reefs – Coral reefs across the Pacific region are under threat from warming oceans, acidification and the aquarium trade. A Worldfish Center inititative in the Solomon Islands uses local techniques to farm coral for the international trade.
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Photos: Protecting the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Oceanscape – August 2012: The Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands was attended by member countries discussing themes of sustainable economic development and conservation.
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