Obama

Just Created the Worlds Largest Marine Reserve

The Papahnaumokukea Marine Na2onal Monument, rst named a na2onal monument by President
George W. Bush in 2006, is a massively important marine nature reserve.
Designated a World Heritage site, the region surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands teems
with more than 7,000 marine and land species some of which are unique to the area, including
endangered whales and sea turtles. As a result, the region has been deemed irreplaceable by scien2sts.
Environmental advocates have repeatedly called for an expansion of the monuments protec2ons to
ensure that the area is safeguarded from commercial opera2ons long into the future.
Clearly, President Obama agrees.
Last week Obama announced that he would expand the protected site to cover some 528,578 square
miles, making Papahnaumokukea the largest such site on Earth.
A press release from the White House notes:

The expansion provides cri2cal protec2ons for more than 7,000 marine species, including whales
and sea turtles listed under the Endangered Species Act and the longest-living marine species in the
world black coral, which have been found to live longer than 4,500 years.

The White House emphasizes that this act con2nues the administra2ons commitment to
protec2ng the environment from future climate change issues.

Addi2onally, as ocean acidica2on, warming, and other impacts of climate change threaten
marine ecosystems, expanding the monument will improve ocean resilience, the statement reads.
The document argues that the expansion will help the regions dis2nct physical and biological
resources adapt, and create a natural laboratory that will allow scien2sts to monitor and explore
the impacts of climate change on these fragile ecosystems.

The region is also an area of great historic and social signicance for the local Hawaiian
communi2es. Papahnaumokukea has received the United Na2ons Educa2onal, Scien2c and
Cultural Organiza2ons a^en2on for its deep cosmological and tradi2onal signicance for living
Na2ve Hawaiian culture, USA Today reports.

While Congress remains in a state of almost perpetual gridlock on any legisla2on of substance,
especially conten2ous issues like climate change and environmental protec2on, Obama has been
using his lawful execu2ve authority to create meaningful change.
The An2qui2es Act gives U.S. presidents the ability to designate na2onal monuments from public
lands in order to protect natural, cultural and scien2c areas of signicance, and through this
legisla2on, Obama has been able to greatly extend the countrys environmental protec2ons. For
example, in 2014 he increased the Pacic Remote Islands Marine Na2onal Monument to the south
and west of Hawaii, too.
This latest ac2on means that commercial ac2vi2es including shing and mineral extrac2on
cannot take place in the newly expanded designa2ons, as is consistent with the current regula2ons
surrounding the already protected monument. The expansion does, however, con2nue to
safeguard local communi2es and their ability to engage in non-commercial shing via a permit
process.
This expansion will also support scien2c research by con2nuing to grant scien2sts access to
Hawaiis waters.
Ul2mately, Obama aims to put the management of this na2onal monument back in the hands of
the Hawaiian people. Government ocials are nego2a2ng an agreement to allow Hawaiis
Department of Natural Resources and Oce of Hawaiian Aairs broader power to manage the area
with local interests in mind.
With these new conserva2on measures in place, hopefully the Papahnaumokukea Marine
Na2onal Monument will remain an area of extreme natural beauty and biodiversity for years to
come.

Papahnaumokukea
Marine Na2onal Monument