Urge the U.S. Government to Protect the Pacific Remote Islands

On Tuesday, March 21st, President Biden announced that the U.S. will consider increasing protections for the Pacific Remote Islands by advancing a new National Marine Sanctuary designation.

Secure marine protections and honor Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander culture.

The Pacific Remote Islands (PRI) contain some of the last wild and healthy ecosystems in the world’s ocean. PRI is home to resilient coral reefs, threatened and endangered wildlife, endemic species found nowhere else on Earth, and the waterways of ancient and modern Indigenous voyagers.

PRI is a complex and interconnected ecosystem that highlights the interdependence of pelagic, nearshore, and terrestrial species, including sharks, rays, whales, turtles, sea birds, and fish. In order to ensure the continued health of the land and nearshore areas that are already a part of PRI, we must secure the protections for this area and demonstrate this support across various communities. 

Only One has joined forces with the community-driven Pacific Remote Islands Coalition (PRI Coalition) to call on US President Joseph Biden to expand and protect some of the last wild and healthy ecosystems in the world’s ocean. The expansion would also bring the US to successfully protect 30% of their ocean before 2030.

Protect PRI's healthy ecosystem and defend the area from industrial fishing and deep sea mining

Protecting  PRI would honor the memory and sacrifice of the members of Hui Panalaʻau, 130 mostly Native Hawaiian young men who were sent to Howland, Baker and Jarvis from 1935-1942 and enabled the U.S. to claim jurisdiction of this area.

Currently, Papahānaumokuākea serves as the only intact cultural voyaging seascape within the Hawaiian Islands. Expanding protection could likewise preserve PRI as a premier classroom for ancestral voyaging, preserving and promoting the culture and history of Pacific seafaring peoples.

Honor and secure the cultural and biological legacies of the Pacific Ocean through a sanctuary designation.

Together we can protect our precious ocean and secure the way of life for Pacific Islander cultures. 

The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument was originally established in 2009 by President George W. Bush, and was expanded in 2014 by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act. The PRI coalition has been requesting that President Joseph Biden expand the monument boundaries around Howland and Baker Islands, Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef to 200 nautical miles, from the current 50 nautical miles of protection, making PRIMNM the largest highly protected marine protected area in the world. On March 21st, President Biden committed to support the process to designate PRI as a National Marine Sanctuary. 

Join us in urging President Bident to swiftly advance the designation of a new National Marine Sanctuary to better protect nature & culture.