Marae Moana

Marae Moana is a multiple-use marine protected area created on 13 July 2017, when the Parliament of the Cook Islands passed a bill creating the largest multiple-use marine protected area in the world at the time of its passage. Marae Moana covers the Cook Islands' entire exclusive economic zone of over 1.9 million square kilometers. Kevin Iro, an environmentalist, first proposed the idea in 2010. Upon its passage, Iro said, "It's a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing." The bill had support from all parties in the legislature. The name of the marine park, loosely translating to "sacred ocean", was created in 2014 during a naming competition won by Bouchard Solomono, a student at Tereora College. Some media speculated that this legislation was the most significant since the independence of the Cook Islands. Iro, who is a co-chair of the Cook Islands Marine Park Steering Committee, which was tasked with Marae Moana's legal designation, said this bill and marine park signifies “the sacredness of how Cook Islanders view our ocean space. It links us to our ancestors – it’s more than just the ocean.” The legislation also creates fifteen marine protected areas extending to 50 nautical miles around each island where no large scale commercial fishing or seabed minerals activities are permitted. Fish

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