Obura2009-IUCN Congress report - Resilience sessions

Workshop Abstracts
Wilderness area protection and sustainable financing in a Small Island Developing
State – Kiribati. Greg Stone
In 2008 Kiribati, a Small Island Developing State with a land are of some 100 km 2 and EEZ of over 3.5
million km 2 announced the establishment of the largest Marine Protected Area in the world, covering
some 450,000 sq. km. The Phoenix Islands, the central one of three island groups in Kiribati, has
been largely uninhabited for several centuries, only supporting temporary populations for decades at a
time. Away from the major transit routes across the Pacific, the islands have also been spared
frequent visits by fishing boats looking for high value reef products such as sharkfin, lobster and giant
clams. However the waters around the Phoenix Islands support tuna fishing, contributing to the
government’s main source of income and foreign exchange. Kiribati culture places a very high value
on the sea, and on fishing and seafaring as a way of life, and the Phoenix Islands are valued by the i-
Kiribati for their legendary isolation and pristine condition, a strong contrast to the inhabited islands of
the Gilbert group and northern Line Islands.
Starting in 2000, research expeditions run by the New England Aquarium found coral reefs completely
free of human impacts, with robust coral populations and super-abundant reef fish reminiscent of a
pristine ocean. With repeated visits to the islands, and to meetings with government officials on the
main island Tarawa, it became clear this was a unique opportunity to blend the cultural values and
pride of Kiribati with the scientific knowledge about the islands to protect them from damage in the
future. While this has been a complex undertaking combining the efforts of many people and
organizations, at the policy level we can identify 3 key features that made this possible.
1) With little land area, Kiribati values highly its islands and marine ecosystems, with fisheries being
a prime income earner. In such a remote location, it became clear that reef fisheries, like most
standard uses of the islands, are prohibitively expensive and vulnerable to over-exploitation. The
concept of a ‘reverse fishing license’ came about, that the country could earn sustainable
financing from licensing the reef fishery resources NOT to be fished. This provided a mechanism
to legislate protection of the islands and reefs and a way to generate funding to keep them
pristine. With experience in successfully managing a national endowment fund (from guanomining
in the first half of the 1900s), this has provided an attractive financing vehicle for
donations, with staged targets to continue to attract donors in the future.
2) With a strong national cultural identity and pride in the sea, the pristine nature of the Phoenix
Islands caught the imagination of government officials and the public. Backed by scientific findings
and regular visits by the science team to Tarawa, a DVD video celebrating the reef and island
ecosystems, and the lives of the few people living on the Phoenix Islands was produced, and
quickly became a favourite for travelling officials, showing it at conferences and exhibitions and
building a broader constituency of support for protecting the marine and island ecosystems in the
island group.
3) Through regular contact and communication between all partners in the project, a sense of pride
and value in the Phoenix Islands and complementary values and contributions strengthened the
commitment of all the partners. Starting with the initial scientific surveys and reporting visits to
Tarawa, then increasing with more extended stays on Tarawa to contribute to new parts of the
growing PIPA initiative, and joint delegations to conferences and conventions involving the
highest government officials, the growing rapport among the individuals, government departments
and organizations contributing to the PIPA built it up from small and modest beginnings to the
largest MPA in the world, in just under 7 years.
The PIPA initiative is an example of policy development that was founded on shared aims and mutual
trust among partners, and in a country whose culture shows clear values for the natural environment,
how it sustains their culture, and their need to care for it.
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