Image: Frans Lanting via National Geographic
RESEARCH

Marine Protection

The outgoing President’s recognition of the importance of nature

In his last months in office, Barack Obama created the largest protected area of ocean anywhere on Earth — a half-million-square-mile arc of remote Pacific waters known for both exceptional marine life and importance to native Hawaiian culture.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument’s expansion marks a positive step forward for sustainability, and will allow further preservation of the wildlife – a quarter of which are found nowhere else on earth – like the Laysan albatross pictured.
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