New MPA is "Earth's third largest"

A "major initiative" to protect nearly a third of coastal waters and fifth of the land area of Micronesia has been launched with $18m pledged by governments, conservation organisations and international finance insitutions:

The new marine protected area in Kiribati will cover an area twice the size of Portugal, and will heavily restrict human activities in the Phoenix Islands, a group of eight coral atolls between between Hawaii and Fiji.

They are nearly uninhabited, and have stunned conservation scientists with an extraordinary variety of unique wildlife including 120 species of coral and more than 500 fish, some new to science.

Pacific Isles Get Wildlife Drive by Tim Hirsh, BBC online
New Marine Protected Area Safeguards Entire Coral Archipelago by Jennifer Shatwell, Conservation International.