During this week’s Our Ocean 2015 conference, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced the creation of the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, which added to other existing areas, will create one the world´s largest marine sanctuaries.
“With these declarations Chile significantly increases the official protection of its territory in the oceanic islands which now reach (approximately 177,606 square miles), tripling the (57,915 square miles) we were protecting until now,” the country´s Environment Minister Pablo Badenier told Latin Business Daily during the international conference on protecting the ocean, which was held in Valparaiso, Chile on Monday and Tuesday.
The marine sanctuary in the Desventuradas is on the migration path of large marine mammals. In addition, hills in those areas contain a great biodiversity of invertebrates including “some that are new to science” as well as other species classified as being in a vulnerable state. Also included in the protected area are a number of places that sea birds use for nesting.
“The intention is to protect the characteristics of the Exclusive Economic Area around the islands, which offer a unique biodiversity (…) with great richness in fish and invertebrates many of great commercial interest like mackerel and albacore,” Badenier said.
Chile also wants to create an exclusive economic area in the Easter Island area and is working to have a proposal ready by the first half of 2016.
“Once this is completed, Chile will have one of the biggest areas of protected marine surfaces in the world,” an Environment Ministry representative said.
The areas that the Chilean government wants to protect include the Crusoe Submarine Hills and the Juan Fernandez Sea.
