Melanesian Leaders Announce World's Largest Indigenous-Led Marine Reserve

NICE, France, June 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At the UN Ocean Conference, the governments of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu announced their intention to create the Melanesian Ocean Reserve to safeguard the ancestral waters, homelands, and peoples of the southwestern Pacific. The area is one of the world's most biodiverse marine regions. Protecting it will secure the economic and cultural vitality of hundreds of distinct Indigenous Peoples while furthering global climate, biodiversity, and ocean goals.

The Melanesian Ocean Reserve will be the first Indigenous-led multi-national ocean reserve on Earth. When complete, it will span at least 6 million square kilometres of ocean and islands—an area as vast as the Amazon rainforest. It will encompass the combined national waters of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea, and connect with the protected waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone of New Caledonia.

"For millennia, the Indigenous Peoples of Melanesia have been the wisest and most effective stewards of these sacred waters. That is why the governments of Melanesia are joining forces to create an unprecedented ocean reserve that honours our identities, livelihoods, and spiritual connections," said Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.

"It is an objective of our National Ocean Policy to establish this transboundary corridor of traditionally managed ocean space between our countries, and we are delighted that this is now happening," said Vanuatu's Minister for Environment Ralph Regenvanu. "The Melanesian Ocean Reserve will give the governments and peoples of Melanesia the ability to do much more to protect our ancestral waters from those who extract and exploit without concern for our planet and its living beings. We hope our Indigenous stewardship of this vast reserve will create momentum for similar initiatives all over the world."

Although today's formal announcement is made by the governments of Vanuatu and the Solomons, the governments of Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia anticipate joining the Melanesian Ocean Reserve.

Today, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are showing their willingness to commit to contribute all their archipelagic waters and areas beyond to the Melanesian Ocean Reserve. As a result, they will permit only sustainable economic activities consistent with Indigenous values in these waters.

The Melanesian Ocean Reserve is the brainchild of two highly respected Indigenous leaders who met for the first time and began sketching out the blueprint at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Cali, Colombia last year:

• The Honourable Trevor Mahaga, the Solomon Islands' Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management, and Meteorology
• The Honourable Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Environment, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards, and Disaster Management

Ministers Mahaga and Regenvanu fleshed out the Melanesian Ocean Reserve concept with the Honourable Jelta Wong, Papua New Guinea's Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, with the support of the nonprofits Nia Tero and Islands Knowledge Institute (IKI).

Nia Tero, led by an Indigenous CEO and a majority-Indigenous board, is a global facilitator of direct funding to Indigenous Peoples. "What these Melanesian leaders are doing is giving voice to the hope of all Oceanic Peoples—to be able to fully bring forward the dream and knowledge of our ancestors in the modern day and to care for the ocean and our planet in the way they deserve," said Nia Tero CEO 'Aulani Wilhelm.

The Islands Knowledge Institute, led by the Solomons-based Indigenous ecologist Dr. Edgar Pollard, has been the primary incubator of the Melanesian Ocean Reserve initiative, supporting deep conversations amongst country leaders and fostering a sense of motivating progress. "The Melanesian Ocean Reserve has progressed from an idea to a powerful platform amongst Melanesian leaders because it connects to an unmistakable truth in their lives: that treating the ocean as our home, in the deepest sense of the word, is the best protection," said Dr. Pollard. "The excitement and inspiration driving the Melanesian Ocean Reserve stems from the chance at making this relationship real in the context of our countries at every level, from the tribe to the village to the state."

Learn more: www.MelanesianOcean.org 

Press Inquiries: Press@MelanesianOcean.org 

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SOURCE Islands Knowledge Institute