When Big Ocean launched as a network on 6 December 2010, the founding six sites represented all of the established, Large-Scale MPAs (LSMPA) globally at that time. These sites collectively represented the beginnings of what is now a legitimate and vital genre of marine conservation. "Ultimately, the management teams' willingness at these early-adopter sites to dream big and innovate has pushed the growth of the field globally," said network coordinator Naiʻa Lewis.
Read MoreDecember 4, 2020, marks the 20th anniversary of establishing the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve (NWHICRER), which sought to preserve the near-pristine lands and waters of the most remote 3/4 of the most isolated archipelago on Earth. Given legal standing in 2000, by U.S. President William Clinton, the Reserve is the predecessor to Papahānaumokuāklea Marine National Monument, established with contiguous boundaries in 2006 by President Bush George W. Bush.
Read MoreIn parallel with celebrating 50 years of Earth Day, we must also recognize important marine conservation efforts, namely the emergent field of Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas (LSMPA), which came onto the scene in 2000, when the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was joined by the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve.
Read MoreBig Ocean will be celebrating 10-years of successful peer-learning across and among the world’s largest marine managed areas in 2020. Our celebratory events will begin in Marseille, France, in conjunction with the 2020 IUCN World Conservation Congress.
Read MoreImagine an underwater mountain covered with forests, corals, sponges , anemones, acting simultaneously as a shelter against currents, a breeding ground, a rest area and a food larder for multiple species…
Read MoreBig Ocean was honored to attend a talk on Climate Change featuring His Excellency, Anote Tong, former President of The Republic of Kiribati.
Read MoreJacqueline Evans, lead manager for Marae Moana–the Cook Islands Marine Protected Area–has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Award for 2019.
Read MoreStory Maps are a unique interactive tools that help people understand, through virtual experience, geographic land or seascapes within a digital environment. This post features a Story Map entitled Historical & Cultural Seascape of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.
Read MoreBig Ocean was honored to provide the context of Large-Scale MPA management globally to students from HWST 365 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The class that concentrates on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and World Heritage Site—and is taught by Kekuewa Kikiloi Ph.D.,
Read MoreOn Friday, August 26, 2016, President Obama signed a proclamation expanding the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Previously the largest contiguous fully-protected conservation area in the United States at 139,797 square miles (362,073 km2), the expanded boundaries make it once again the biggest protected area on the planet at 582,578 square miles (1,508,870 km2), nearly the size of the Gulf of Mexico.
Read MoreSeptember 2016–Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan will today announce plans to double the area of ocean under marine protection around the UK Overseas Territories to around four million square kilometres – greater than the landmass of India.
Big Ocean in partnership with the IUCN WCPA Large-Scale MPA Task Force is pleased to announce the launch of Large-Scale Marine Protected Areas: Guidelines for design and management, Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series, No. 26, at the 4th International Marine Protected Areas Congress.
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