Chile Leads Global Movement to Protect the Ocean

The Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said Monday that her government will create marine protected areas in the archipelagos of Easter Island and Juan Fernandez, in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, in order to preserve ancestral fishing practices of the native Polynesian people.

The new marine zone will have 631,368 square kilometers and will be the third largest “fully protected” ocean area in the world. The announcement was made during the opening of the conference “Our Ocean 2015,” which is being held in the port of Valparaiso, 80 miles west of the capital Santiago.

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The encounter is being attended by more than 400 leaders from government, academia, and civil society whose main goal is to find solutions to deal with illegal fishing, marine plastic pollution, ocean acidification and its relation to climate change.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Prince Albert of Monaco are among those attending the event.

"This is the contribution of our oceans Chile ... our children and grandchildren will thank the development of these initiatives," said Bachelet. She also announced the creation another marine park and a marine reserve.

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The Easter Islands are considered a true "oasis" of nutrients in an area of the Pacific Ocean where the water has very scarce nutritional resources.

However, human activity, the introduction of species and overpopulation led to gradual deforestation and extinction of natural resources. According to the 2012 Chilean census, the island has about 5,800 residents, of whom some 60 percent are descendants of the aboriginal Rapa Nui.