Pacific Island Leaders Issue Urgent Call for Ocean Protection
Te Reo O Te Moana gathering should inspire conservation and integration of Indigenous knowledge into policy ahead of U.N. Ocean Conference
In a display of regional unity and commitment, Polynesian representatives from throughout the Pacific convened in Papeete, French Polynesia, on March 28 to spur global action on safeguarding the health of the Pacific Ocean.
The meeting—an official side event of the upcoming Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which starts June 9 in Nice, France—drew about 250 people, including participants from the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Rapa Nui, Saipan, Samoa, Tonga, and Wallis and Futuna.
Leaders used the session, titled Te Reo O Te Moana (“The Voice of Ocean”), to also share marine conservation success stories. But the highlight of the meeting was a powerful declaration of unity, initiated by representatives of Pacific Indigenous groups and communities, urging nations around the world to achieve comprehensive protection for Te Moana nui a Hiva (“the great blue ocean”). French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson signed the call to action, making his country the first to endorse the declaration.
“Saving our oceans is not the business of one nation alone; it is our collective responsibility,” said JinNam Hopotoa of Niue Ocean Wide, a public-private nonprofit organization. “Like the ocean that connects us, we must come together to act together.”
Participants also said that protecting the ocean is a sacred duty owed to ancestors, present communities, and future generations, adding that the journey to healing the ocean should begin locally and be guided by Indigenous values of reciprocity, humility, and ecological integrity.
“What I take away from the whole conference is the relationship,” said J. Hauʻoli Lorenzo-Elarco, a member of the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group. “We are much closer than we think, whether through our stories, language, or what we are trying to protect. Te Reo O Te Moana, the voice of the ocean, is not a single voice but the voice of all of us in the Pacific.”
Specifically, the call to action presses for countries to create marine protected areas (MPAs) to contribute to the global goal of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030. The declaration also implores governments to integrate Indigenous knowledge into national and regional ocean management frameworks, promote artisanal fishing, support the U.N. agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction—also known as the BBNJ treaty or high seas treaty—and immediately halt destructive practices, such as seabed mining.
“With a joint declaration from the people of the ocean, answer the call of Te Reo O Te Moana, rise up so that the ocean may live,” said Hinano Murphy of Tetiaroa Society, a nonprofit that works to preserve French Polynesia’s atoll ecosystem, and Te Pu Atiti’a, a Moorea-based cultural association focused on coupling ancestral knowledge with modern science to achieve sustainable development.
The event was organized by Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy and FAPE Te Ora Naho, a federation of about 60 environmental protection associations in French Polynesia, in partnership with the French Polynesian ministry of agriculture, marine resources, and environment; the Assembly of French Polynesia; The Pew Charitable Trusts; and the Blue Cradle Foundation.
The gathering also served as a vital platform for knowledge sharing, helping participants highlight the benefits of established large-scale MPAs in the region. This in turn should bolster the ongoing efforts of French Polynesian communities working to create their own large-scale MPAs, particularly the Rāhui Nui nō Tuha’a Pae project in the Austral Islands and Te Tai Nui a Hau in the Marquesas Islands.
“We have learned from our cousins in the Pacific, who are very advanced on the large MPAs they have been able to create in their country,” said Tihoti Tanepau, president of the Rāhui Nui nō Tuha’a Pae Association in French Polynesia. “In the Austral Islands, we have been working for more than 10 years with our mayors and our population on our request to create the great MPA of the Austral Islands, the Rāhui Nui nō Tuha’a Pae. We hope to be heard and that it will finally be enacted soon.”
On March 31, the Te Reo O Te Moana call to action was presented to Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, French ambassador for the poles and oceans, at a pre-UNOC3 summit at the Eiffel Tower by three Polynesian conservation leaders—Nainoa Thompson, Lehua Kamalu, and Matahi Tutavae. Conference representatives will share the declaration with global leaders at the UNOC3 event on June 8—World Oceans Day.
Donatien Tanret leads Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy’s work in French Polynesia.
