Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/02/14

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Subject: [Leica] Update
From: leica at rcmckee.com (R. Clayton McKee)
Date: Thu Feb 14 11:06:20 2008

Given that we are constantly guiding our online actions by the state 
of affairs on our favorite Pacific homeland, I thought this might be 
of some interest:

Reservez, s'il vous plait
Tiny island nation of Kiribati creates world's largest marine reserve
 
The tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati has created the world's 
largest marine reserve, spanning 164,200 square miles (roughly the 
size of California). In contrast, the islands comprising Kiribati 
itself total only about 313 square miles, or about four times the 
size of Washington, D.C. The new Phoenix Islands Protected Area is 
home to sea turtles, over 120 species of coral, 520 species of fish, 
and contains important sea-bird nesting sites. In creating the 
reserve, the impoverished nation will be giving up millions of 
dollars in foregone commercial fishing licenses every year, though 
Kiribati officials stressed that they hope to make up for some of the 
lost revenue via increased tourism.  Officials have also been 
trolling for financial assistance from other nations. Russell 
Mittermeier of Conservation International said, "The creation of this 
amazing marine protected area by a small island nation represents a 
commitment of historic proportions." The previous world's largest 
marine protected area was the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands set aside 
by President Bush in 2006.
 
sources: 
Reuters 
<http://lists.grist.org/t?ctl=1CBCE:E8DF3F714549B5C4919727C278676005>
Associated Press 
<http://lists.grist.org/t?ctl=1CBC5:E8DF3F714549B5C4919727C278676005>

--


R. Clayton McKee                           http://www.rcmckee.com
Photojournalist                               rcmckee@rcmckee.com
P O Box 571900                           voice/fax   713/783-3502
Houston, TX 77257-1900                   cell phone #  on request