French Polynesia has announced a new French Polynesia marine protected area covering more than 200,000 square miles of ocean near the Austral, Marquesas, and Western Society islands, bringing the total of the nation’s conserved ocean territory to around 540,500 square miles, an area roughly twice the size of Texas. According to Maritime Optima, the new reserve covers more than 1.1 million square kilometres, roughly twice the size of France, placing it among the largest marine protected areas established anywhere in the world.
The new reserve is named the Te Tai Nui a Hau Marine Protected Area. Its creation follows a previous round of protections in which French Polynesia fully protected approximately 350,000 square miles around the Gambier and Society islands, while also designating several thousand miles of artisanal fishing zones.
How the French Polynesia Marine Protected Area Is Structured
The protections are not uniform across the entire zone. Maritime Optima reports that the initiative established two major highly protected zones: one of 220,000 square kilometres near the Society Islands and another of 680,000 square kilometres near the Gambier Islands. Alongside these, artisanal fishing zones have been woven into the design. Across the new preserve network, 3,088 square miles of artisanal fishing zones have been added in the waters surrounding the Austral Islands, and nearly 7,336 square miles around the Marquesas, covering coastal areas and nearby seamounts.
Within these fishing zones, catches are limited to single pole-and-line methods from boats less than 12 metres in length. The intent is to allow local communities to continue fishing in ways that have sustained them for generations, while still keeping the broader ocean system intact. That balance, between large-scale protection and local livelihood, has been central to the entire planning process.
According to Pasifika News, President Moetai Brotherson has also promised to create additional artisanal fishing zones and two more large, highly protected marine protected areas within the next year. Maritime Optima further reports that French Polynesia plans to establish additional protected zones near the Austral and Marquesas Islands, which would bring the total area of highly protected waters to 2.5 million square kilometres, covering over half of the territory’s exclusive economic zone.
A Decade of Community Work Behind the Announcement
The Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, one member of a broad coalition that assisted in planning, financing, and executing the reserve, described the announcement as the culmination of more than a decade of work led by Polynesian communities and local leaders. Donatien Tanret, who leads Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy‘s work in French Polynesia, explained the community-led foundation of the effort. ‘Communities across the Austral and Marquesas islands have spent years shaping a collective vision for conserving their ocean that reflects both their cultural traditions and their future needs,’ he said. ‘From the start, that vision included coastal protected zones around the islands and their seamounts, where artisanal fishing can continue for the local people who depend on it.’
That process was not a short or simple one. French Polynesia’s waters are home to exceptional marine biodiversity, including seabirds, sharks, whales, and species found nowhere else on Earth, and serve as migration routes and breeding grounds for marine life. Managing that kind of ecological complexity across a vast and dispersed island territory, while keeping local communities’ needs at the centre, has required sustained coordination across government, international partners, and island populations over many years.
Partners who supported the work include the Becht Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Ocean Fund, Blue Marine Foundation, Blue Nature Alliance, Oceans 5, and the Wyss Foundation. These organisations work with the government and local communities to support long-term financing mechanisms, governance structures, scientific monitoring, and the management capacity needed to make protections operational rather than merely declared.
Taivini Teai, French Polynesia’s Minister of Agriculture, Marine Resources, and Environment, set out the government’s ambition plainly. ‘This announcement reflects French Polynesia’s commitment to protecting our ocean for future generations while supporting the communities that depend on it,’ he said. ‘By combining large-scale conservation, traditional stewardship, and sustainable use, we aim to lead by example and demonstrate that ambitious ocean protection and local livelihoods can go hand in hand.’
Once all protections are implemented, 30% of French Polynesia’s waters will be shielded from extractive activities. President Brotherson has stated his hope that the decision will serve as a model for large-scale ocean conservation rooted in local leadership, while contributing to the global goal of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030, known as ’30 by 30′. With two more major MPAs committed for the coming year, the work is ongoing rather than complete.
