Protected areas of Kiribati

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Kiritimati from the International Space Station Kiritimati-EO.jpg
Kiritimati from the International Space Station

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.

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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.

Protected areas

Plerogyra sinuosa BubbleCoral.jpg
Plerogyra sinuosa

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]

  • Cook Islet Closed Area (Kiritimati WS), 22 km2 (8.5 sq mi), is a Bird Reserve.
  • Motu Tabu Islet Closed Area (Kiritimati), 0.04 km2 (0.015 sq mi), is a Marine Protected Area - Closed Area.
  • Motu Upua Closed Area (Kiritimati), 0.19 km2 (0.073 sq mi), is a Marine Protected Area - Closed Area.
  • Ngaontetaake Islet Closed Area (Kiritimati), 0.26 km2 (0.10 sq mi), is a Marine Protected Area - Closed Area.
  • North-west Point Closed Area (Kiritimati), 0.13 km2 (0.050 sq mi), is a Marine Protected Area - Closed Area.
Grey-backed terns flying over Malden Island with lagoon in background Malden AKK Terns.jpg
Grey-backed terns flying over Malden Island with lagoon in background
Sooty tern colony on Starbuck Island Starbuck AKK Sooty Tern.jpg
Sooty tern colony on Starbuck Island

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]

World Heritage listed areas

As of April 2024, 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]

Ramsar sites

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]

NameArea (ha)Area (acre)
Nooto - North Tarawa 1,0332,550

Areas of high biodiversity and conservation value

Corallimorpharia Scheibenanemone.JPG
Corallimorpharia

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]

Phoenix Islands Protected Area

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area is a mostly uninhabited coral archipelago located within a globally biologically important area called the Polynesian/Micronesian hotspot 3dPerspective wSeamounts NoRefs.jpg
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area is a mostly uninhabited coral archipelago located within a globally biologically important area called the Polynesian/Micronesian hotspot

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.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiribati</span> Country in the central Pacific Ocean

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Kiribati</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiritimati</span> Coral atoll in the northern Line Islands, 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/.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malden Island</span> Island in the central Pacific Ocean

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of Australia</span> Protected areas in Australia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canton Island</span> Atoll in the South Pacific Ocean

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Island</span> Coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean

Caroline Island is the easternmost of several uninhabited coral atolls comprising the southern Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean nation of Kiribati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarawa</span> Atoll in the South Pacific

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of Canada</span> Areas protected for conservation or historical reasons

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birnie Island</span> Uninhabited island of central Kiribati

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonriki International Airport</span> Airport in Bonriki, South Tarawa, Kiribati

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in Kiribati</span> Police Force of Kiribati

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howland and Baker Islands</span> Unincorporated U.S. territory

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Islands Protected Area</span> Marine protected area in central Kiribati

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Tarawa</span> A string of islets in Kiribati governed by the Eutan Tarawa Council

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral reefs of Kiribati</span> Pacific Ocean Island chain

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:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of Tuvalu</span> Protected areas in Tuvalu

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected areas of Solomon Islands</span> Protected areas in Solomon Islands

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.

References

  1. Scott, Derek A., ed. (1993). "Teeb'aki, Republic of Kiribati" (PDF). A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania (Report). [i] Slimbridge, UK; [ii] Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: [i]  International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau; [ii] Asian Wetland Bureau. pp. 199–228. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Biodiversity Areas". Protected Planet - Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC. 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Edward R. Lovell, Taratau Kirata & Tooti Tekinaiti (September 2002). "Status report for Kiribati's coral reefs" (PDF). Centre IRD de Nouméa. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. Paine, James R. (1991). IUCN Directory of Protected Areas in Oceania. World Conservation Union. ISBN   978-0-8248-1217-1.
  5. Turang Teuea; Naohiro Nakamura (2020). "Motivations to Support Marine Conservation Projects in North Tarawa, Kiribati". Conservation and Society. 18 (2): 161–171. doi: 10.4103/cs.cs_19_51 . S2CID   216371691 . Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  6. 1 2 "World Heritage List". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 van Dijken, S. G.; Anderson, P. (2013). Priority Areas for Conservation in Kiribati: Key Biodiversity Areas (PDF) (Report). Vol. 18. Conservation International Pacific Islands Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Government of Kiribati Ministry of Environment. pp. 161–171. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  8. "Phoenix Islands Protected Area". Conservation International. 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  9. "Phoenix Islands Protected Area". UNESCO. 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  10. Pierce, R.J.; Brown, D (16 April 2008). "Phoenix Islands Restoration Project" (PDF). NZAID – PIPA. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  11. Rotjan, Randi (2014). Establishment, management, and maintenance of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. In: Advances in Marine Biology. Elsevier, Oxford Press. ISBN   978-0-12-800214-8.
  12. "Phoenix Islands Protected Area". UNESCO. 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.