Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna. (Photo Credit: Alexwinkler/CC BY 3.0)
COOK ISLANDSWednesday, September 03, 2014, 04:10 (GMT + 9)
A partnership agreement was signed to promote marine parks in the Pacific waters, rich in tuna resources, in the framework of the Third International Conference on Small Islands Developing States, being hosted in Samoa from 1 to 4 September.
This agreement was settled by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the National Geographic Society and the Waitt Foundation.
"For us in the Cook Islands, conservation of the ocean is part of our DNA. We were born into the ocean, and we will die in the ocean. Our lives are so inter-connected with the sea,” pointed out newly re-elected Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna at a side-event of the United Nations Conference on Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) that was organised by SPREP las week.
“If you look closely and look within yourself and at your own community, you will be able to find that DNA too. Once you connect with that, the rest should be easy," Puna added.
About 2.2 million square kilometres of their ocean surrounding the Cook Islands were declared as their 'Marae Moana,' or marine park. It has one of the world's largest 'no take zones' in operation at present.
The Minister explained that there are plans to extend this Marae Moana – which has been designated by tribes across eastern Polynesia as sacred places -- to waters in the northern Cooks in the medium term.
He also stressed that the Marae Moana will provide the necessary framework to promote sustainable development by balancing economic growth interests such as tourism, fishing, deep sea mining with conserving core biodiversity and natural assets in our ocean, reefs and islands.
For his part, SPREP's Director General David Sheppard said the partnership will promote marine resource conservation and associated sustainable economic development of SIDS in the Pacific.
“The work in these areas will focus on practical issues and capacity building to assist SPREP members with the creation of effective no take marine reserves, including implementation of efficient and effective monitoring and enforcement programs, combating Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing, and the creation of new sustainable tourism revenues based on marine reserves," said Sheppard.
Meanwhile, Chandra Acharya, the UN's Under-Secretary General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States praised SIDS for taking the lead in protecting the pristine ocean and its inhabitants.