Expand protections for the Pacific Remote Islands
September 13, 2024
President Biden: Honor Indigenous leaders. Safeguard our future. Fully protect PRI.
Some of the ocean’s last wild, healthy ecosystems are in the Pacific Remote Islands. From vibrant coral reefs to deep-sea species found nowhere else on Earth – the area has long held significance for Native Pacific Islanders’ cross-oceanic migration, voyaging and cultural practice. We have an urgent need and unprecedented opportunity to protect it.
In the last four years, President Biden has worked to build a strong environmental foundation with historic investments in clean energy and environmental justice. His administration has made record-breaking strides toward the America the Beautiful initiative, with a goal of conserving 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 (known as “30×30”). In his final months in office, President Biden has an unprecedented opportunity to honor Indigenous leaders and establish the world’s largest highly protected marine area with the Pacific Remote Islands. This action would ensure that the Biden Administration’s climate legacy includes achieving the goal of protecting 30% of U.S. waters..
The Pacific Remote Islands are home to some of the last wild and healthy ocean ecosystems on our planet. The land and sea hold rich history, from ancient Polynesian voyaging, to the efforts of the Hui Panalāʻau, to the Pacific theater of WWII. Our coalition is requesting to expand protections of the Pacific Remote Islands, honor the area’s unique history and cultural significance with a new name, and to adopt a co-management model of the Pacific Remote Islands so that traditional ecological knowledge and modern science can be at the forefront of ongoing and future protections for the Pacific.
