Lilliput State to Create World's Largest Marine Reserve

The largest marine reserve in the world, comparable in size to the area of two FrancesIt plans to establish a Cook Island government in the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.

“This is the largest territory in the history of mankind that one country, without the help of others, has decided to take under protection. We will create a system to protect the fragile ocean world there, Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna said.

The area of the new reserve will be more than a million square kilometers, which is 5 thousand times larger than the territory of the Cook Islands themselves.

Restrictions on fishing and passage of ships in marine zones in the Cook Islands could protect species such as tuna from extinction, says Konstantin Zgurovsky, head of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia marine program. “There is a point in this idea, because even if the country itself cannot control this territory by its own means, it will still be a certain guarantee of safety from pirate fishing and poaching. Because if a ship suddenly gets there, it would be an international scandal. Here, the situation can be controlled not by this island state, but by the international community, Zgurovsky said.

The Cook Islands is an archipelago and public entity of the same name in free association with New Zealand. Located in the South Pacific Ocean. The Lilliputian state consists of 15 islands, whose total area is about 230 square kilometers.

Source: http://travel.ria.ru/