Pacific Island Nations Honored for Whale Sanctuaries

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, August 13, 2003 (ENS) - Pacific island nations meeting in Auckland this week for the the Pacific Islands Forum have agreed to set up a task force that will work towards establishing a South Pacific whale sanctuary. Proposals for such a regional sanctuary have been defeated by whaling nations at the past three annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission.

Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Nuie, French Polynesia and Vanuatu have agreed to be part of the task force. Only French Polynesia is not a member of the forum.

The 34th annual Pacific Islands Forum has attracted some 400 delegates and media to Auckland's Sheraton Hotel. The Leaders’ meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister Helen Clark on Saturday will follow a day long Leaders’ retreat. "The forum provides an important annual opportunity for Pacific Islands leaders to discuss the political, economic and developmental issues facing the region in a time of rapid change, globalization and increasing instability," Clark said.

Leaders of Pacific Island nations at this week's forum: Back row left to right: Makunita Baaro of Kiribati, Peter Forau of Solomon Islands, John Larkindale of New Zealand, Ratu Isoa Gavidi of Fiji, Isac Soaladaob of Palau, and Fekitamoeloa 'Utoikamanu of Tonga
Front row left to right: Gabriel Pepson of Papua New Guinea, Ric Wells of Australia, Eseta Fusitu'a of Tonga, W. Noel Levi Forum Secretary General, Phil Goff of New Zealand, Edwin Pittman of Cook Islands, Kodaro Gallen of Micronesia, Aiono Mose Sua of Samoa (Photo courtesy Government of New Zealand)

In connection with the forum, the New Zealand government and WWF, the conservation organization, today co-hosted a Gift to the Earth award ceremony for the 11 Pacific island countries that have already established nationally declared, legislated and implemented whale sanctuaries in their exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanutatu have all established whale sanctuaries. Together, the national sanctuaries cover over 28 million square kilometers of ocean.

Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of WWF-International’s Species Programme said today, “WWF applauds the governments of the Pacific for making this commitment to guarantee the future of these special animals, the cultural traditions and values they embody, and the region's living marine resources."

The national sanctuaries complement the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which contains the Antarctica feeding grounds for the whale species that travel to the South Pacific to breed and calve.

The South Pacific Ocean is the world's largest marine habitat, containing critical breeding grounds and migratory routes for 11 of the world’s great whale species.

Humpback whales migrate to Tonga from June to November to breed in the warm waters. Tonga was the first South Pacific nation to declare a national whale sanctuary, in 1979. (Photo courtesy Government of Tonga)

WWF International President Chief Emeka Anyaoku said in his message honoring the 11 sanctuary nations, "By celebrating the creation of whale sanctuaries in South Pacific countries as a Gift to the Earth, WWF recognizes this as a globally significant conservation action, an example of environmental leadership for the region, and an inspiration for others to act similarly."

"Providing sanctuary for over 15 species of whales is an important step in achieving their long term conservation, and for the welfare of the marine environment and the human communities dependent on marine resources," said Chief Anyaoku, a former Commonwealth Secretary General.

In the booklet published by WWF to commemorate this 89th Gift to the Earth, WWF Director-General Dr. Claude Martin wrote that in the seven years since the organization launched its Gifts to the Earth program, marine parks, restoration and protection of wetlands, energy conservation schemes to help combat climate change, and about three percent of the world’s remaining forest, have been donated.