Protected areas of Kiribati include marine protected areas managed by the Environment and Conservation Division, of the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development. Kiribati, in partnership with the New England Aquarium and Conservation International (CI), manages the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), which is a World Heritage Site that was established in 2006, and is the second largest of the world's marine protected areas. The U.S. administered Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument is currently the world's largest designated marine protected area (MPA), and is to the north and north-east of the PIPA.
There is one wetland of international importance that is registered under the Ramsar Convention. A total of 22 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) - areas of high biodiversity and conservation value - have been identified in Kiribati.
In December 1960, the British colonial authority gazetted Kiritimati as a bird sanctuary under the "Gilbert and Ellice Island Colony Wild Birds Protection Ordinance" of 1938. Access to Cook Island, Motu Tabu, and Motu Upua was restricted. Kiritimati was declared a wildlife sanctuary in May 1975, in accordance with the Wildlife Conservation Ordinance of the then self-governing colony. Ngaontetaake islet and the sooty tern breeding grounds at North West Point also became restricted-access zones. [1]
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) identifies the following Marine Protected Areas in Kiribati: [2]
Four marine reserves were specifically set aside for the conservation of grouper. These are all located in the Gilbert Islands off the atolls of Butaritari, Tabiteuea, Nonouti, and Onotoa and are managed by the Kiribati Fisheries Division. [3]
As of April 2024 [update] , the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is the only area in Kiribati listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. [6] PIPA is managed by Kiribati, in partnership with the New England Aquarium and Conservation International (CI). [6]
As a contracting party to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (known as the Ramsar Convention), Kiribati is encouraged "to nominate sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or that are important for conserving biological diversity, to the List of Wetlands of International Importance". Kiribati has nominated one site: [2]
Name | Area (ha) | Area (acre) |
---|---|---|
Nooto - North Tarawa | 1,033 | 2,550 |
A total of 22 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) - areas of high biodiversity and conservation value - have been identified in Kiribati, with the KBAs encompassing both marine and terrestrial systems (such as bird nesting or feeding environments). [7] The 22 identified KBAs cover an approximate total area of 4 thousand km2 (1.5 thousand sq mi) or approximately 74% of the total land, lagoon and reef habitat of Kiribati. [7] As of 2013, 12 of the 22 KBAs have been completely or partially established as conservation areas by the government of Kiribati or by local village communities. [7]
The 2006 declaration of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), with a size of 397,447 km2 (153,455 sq mi), created, at that time, the world's largest designated marine protected area (MPA), which was also designated as the world's largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. [8]
The PIPA constitutes 11.34% of Kiribati's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The PIPA conserves one of the world's largest intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems, including 14 known underwater seamounts (presumed to be extinct volcanoes) and other deep-sea habitats. The area contains approximately 800 known species of fauna, including about 200 coral species, 500 fish species, 18 marine mammals and 44 bird species. [9] [10] [11] In total it is equivalent to the size of the state of California in the U.S., though the total land area is only 25 km2 (9.7 sq mi).
The 14 submerged volcanic seamounts, rise from the sea floor with an average depth of more than 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) and a maximum depth of over 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). The large bathymetric range of the submerged seamounts provides depth defined habitat types fully representative of Pacific mid oceanic biota. [12]
The eight atolls and reef islands within PIPA are also volcanic mountains. All of the Phoenix Islands are uninhabited, except for a few families who live on Canton Island.
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, with more than half living on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 3,441,810 km2 (1,328,890 sq mi) of ocean.
Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one island in an expanse of ocean equivalent in size to the contiguous United States. The islands are scattered such that Kiribati has territory located in each of the four hemispheres. The islands of Kiribati lie roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia in the Micronesian and Polynesian regions of the South Pacific. The three main island groupings are the Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands, and Line Islands. On 1 January 1995 Kiribati moved the International Date Line to include its easternmost islands and make it the same day throughout the country.
The following article outlines transport in Kiribati.
Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name is derived from the English word "Christmas" written in Gilbertese according to its phonology, in which the combination ti is pronounced /s/.
Malden Island, sometimes called Independence Island in the 19th century, is a low, arid, uninhabited atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, about 39 km2 (15 sq mi) in area. It is one of the Line Islands belonging to the Republic of Kiribati. The lagoon is entirely enclosed by land, though it is connected to the sea by underground channels, and is quite salty.
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Canton Island, previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and as of 2020, the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It is an atoll located in the South Pacific Ocean roughly halfway between Hawaii and Fiji. The island is a narrow ribbon of land around a lagoon; an area of 40 km2 (15 sq mi). Canton's closest neighbour is the uninhabited Enderbury Island, 63 km (39 mi) west-southwest. The capital of Kiribati, South Tarawa, lies 1,765 km (1,097 mi) to the west. As of 2015, the population was 20, down from 61 in 2000. The island's sole village, Tebaronga, is located on the northwest point, below the airstrip.
Caroline Island is the easternmost of several uninhabited coral atolls comprising the southern Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean nation of Kiribati.
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, in the Micronesia region of the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises North Tarawa, which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the Gilbert group, and South Tarawa, which has 56,388 inhabitants as of 2015, half of the country's total population. The atoll was the site of the Battle of Tarawa during World War II.
Protected areas of Canada consist of approximately 12.1 percent of the nation's landmass and freshwater are considered conservation areas, including 11.4 percent designated as protected areas. Approximately 13.8 percent of Canada's territorial waters are conserved, including 8.9 percent designated as protected areas. Terrestrial areas conserved have increased by 65 percent in the 21st century, while marine areas conserved have increased by more than 3,800 percent.
Birnie Island is a small, uninhabited coral island, 20 hectares in area, part of the Phoenix Island group, that is part of the Republic of Kiribati. It is located about 100 kilometres southeast of Kanton Island and 90 kilometres west-northwest of Rawaki Island, formerly known as Phoenix Island. It lies at 03°35′S171°33′W. Birnie Island measures only 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) long and 0.5 kilometres (0.3 mi) wide. There is no anchorage, but landing can be made on the lee shore.
Bonriki International Airport is an international airport in Kiribati, serving as the main gateway to the country. It is located in its capital, South Tarawa, which is a group of islets in the atoll of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, precisely on Bonriki.
The only State disciplined forces in Kiribati are a unified national police force, with prison and quarantine powers, and the coast guard. Defense assistance is provided by Australia and New Zealand. The police force does not report to any ministers but rather directly to the President of Kiribati.
Howland Island and Baker Island are two uninhabited U.S. atolls in the Equatorial Pacific that are located close to one another. Both islands are wildlife refuges, the larger of which is Howland Island. They are both part of the larger political territory of the United States Minor Outlying Islands and they are also both part of the larger geographic grouping of the Phoenix Islands. Each is a National Wildlife Refuge managed by a division of Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On January 6, 2009, U.S. President George W. Bush included both islands in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is located in the Republic of Kiribati, an ocean nation in the central Pacific approximately midway between Australia and Hawaii. PIPA constitutes 11.34% of Kiribati's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and with a size of 408,250 km2 (157,630 sq mi), it is one of the largest marine protected areas (MPA) and one of the largest protected areas of any type on Earth. The PIPA was also designated as the world's largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
North Tarawa or in Gilbertese Tarawa Ieta, in the Republic of Kiribati, is the string of islets from Buariki at the northern tip of Tarawa atoll to Buota in the South, with a combined population of 6,629 as of 2015. It is administratively separate from neighbouring South Tarawa, and is governed by the Eutan Tarawa Council (ETC), based at Abaokoro.
Beatrice Islets are pair of islets in the Australian state of South Australia located in Nepean Bay on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 4 kilometres east of Kingscote. The islets and adjoining intertidal areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet pair has enjoyed protected area status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the Beatrice Islet Conservation Park. During either the 1960s or the 1970s, the islets were extensively damaged by an exercise to remove an infestation of South African boxthorn.
The Coral reefs of Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba, which is an isolated island between Nauru and the Gilbert Islands. The islands of Kiribati are dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million sq mi) of the Pacific Ocean and straddle the equator and the 180th meridian, extending into the eastern and western hemispheres, as well as the northern and southern hemispheres. 21 of the 33 islands are inhabited. The groups of islands of Kiribati are:
Protected areas of Tuvalu consist of protected areas located within the central Pacific country of Tuvalu and its territorial waters. One such area is the Funafuti Conservation Area, which is a marine protected area on the western reef area of Funafuti atoll.
Protected areas of Solomon Islands include marine protected areas that encompass coral reefs, lagoons, and seagrass meadows. East Rennell, which includes Lake Tegano, is the only area in the Solomon Islands listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. As of April 2024, the Solomons have not nominated any wetlands under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.