Palau created the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009 and about one-third of countries have now followed suit, changing attitudes to the predator and helping curb demand for shark fin soup.
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The Palau National Marine Sanctuary covers an underwater area having 1,300 species of fish and 700 types of coral.
A great step has been taken by Pacific island nation of Palau as it has created a massive-sized sanctuary.
On Wednesday, he signed off the final papers to open the natural preserve.
The precedent-setting Palau marine protected area shows that small island states, often called large ocean nations, can be global conservation leaders, and make major contribution to the worldwide targets for marine protected areas established under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
“Creating this sanctuary is a bold move that the people of Palau recognize as essential to our survival”, Palau President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. said in a statement quoted by Pew Trusts. The sanctuary would be completed in five years’ time when no commercial fishing vessel would be allowed to fish in the republic’s waters. Nevertheless, local fishermen and coastal communities will be able to fish in designated areas, authorities added.
The move is also aimed at encouraging tourism in the islands.
Tourism brings in an estimated $160 million annually (the country uses the US dollar as its currency), nearly half the country’s GDP, while commercial fishing – mostly for tuna – has brought in about $5.5 million each year. That’s the highest percentage of an exclusive economic zone devoted to marine conservation by any country in the world. Palau’s government set fire to several vessels caught fishing illegally earlier this year to emphasize its commitment to protecting its seas.
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The archipelago, part of the larger island group of Micronesia in the west Pacific, has a population of just 18,000. The countries struggle to create a vast network of marine sanctuaries to safeguard the world’s last pristine marine environments. The sanctuary will be present in 500,000 square kilometers area and will become the sixth-largest completely protected marine area across the globe.
