BECKYHITCHIN
The Pacific principle
Becky Hitchin reports from the Cook Islands in the South Pacific , where marine conservation underpins everything in daily life
Some of you may know that I ’ ve been lucky enough to spend the last few weeks in the Cook Islands . Probably more of you are now thinking two things – “ where are the Cook Islands ” and “ is there good diving ”? Well , let me answer these for you , via a tale of marine protected areas ( MPAs ).
The Cook Islands are a group of 15 islands in the South Pacific , somewhat to the left of Fiji and somewhat to the right of French Polynesia . Two of the islands are volcanic in nature , including the main island of Rarotonga , while the others are wide coral atolls and lagoons . All in all , their land mass is 93 square miles . It ’ s a very small nation , with around 18,000 inhabitants living there . In geographical terms , however , it is massive – its marine Exclusive Economic Zone covers more than 750,000 square miles . The main languages are English and Cook Islands māori ; their currency is both Cook Islands dollars and New Zealand dollars . Their $ 2 coin is three-sided , and their $ 3 note features a barebreasted woman riding a shark . Beat that .
Before I answer the “ is there good diving ” question , I need to explain what an Exclusive Economic Zone is , and why it ’ s important here . If you are a country with a coastline , however big or small , you get rights over the bits of the ocean next to you . Everything within 12 nautical miles is counted as territorial waters where the law of that country functions just as on land . After that , there ’ s a zone of up to 200 nautical miles called the Exclusive Economic Zone , or EEZ . Here , only that one country is allowed to undertake economically-enhancing activities , such as fishing , mining , dredging for sand and gravel , though other countries have rights to travel through the area , or conduct scientific research for example .
The Cook Islands did something in 2017 that was quite remarkable . They designated the whole of their EEZ as then the largest multi-use marine park in the world , known as Marae Moana .
Marae Moana is a varied seascape including atolls , sand cays and islands , and is home to 136 species of coral , over 600 species of fish , three species of turtles , 21 species of cetaceans and 16 species of sharks . It includes 15 MPAs extending to 50 miles around each island , where no commercial fishing or mining is allowed . Outwith these MPAs , Marae Moana requires that any economic activities must be consistent with the need to protect and conserve the ecology , biodiversity and heritage of the marine environment of the Cook Islands . The marine park is managed by a council that includes the Prime Minister , the leader of the Opposition , the President of the House of Ariki ( the body of chiefs ) as well as members of NGOs , religious and governmental agencies . Something other countries should look at emulating . In the Cook Islands , the importance of the sea to not only the economy , but the wellbeing ,
spirituality and culture of the islands is undoubted .
As for diving , there are a good number of options for dive shops and dive boats on the islands , mainly Rarotonga . Most hotels will lend you mask , snorkel and fins for snorkelling , which is a delight and is safe everywhere , except for the channels through the reefs into the lagoons where you can get strong currents . But those strong currents and channels make for excellent diving with turtles , giant trevally and tuna .
For identification nerds , there ’ s an amazing web-based database of all life in the Cook Islands , above and below water . Humpback whales visit the islands in the autumn , making for exciting in-water and shore viewing experiences . The dive operators and Cook Islanders are keenly aware of conservation . One of the dive operators helped create a coral transplant and restoration project , and on Aitutaki , a paradise island less than an hour ’ s flight from Rarotonga , there is an ongoing project to restock giant clams into the lagoons after their abundance declined from harvesting .
I ’ m not here to advertise the Cook Islands . I ’ ve dived in better places , and worse places . But their commitment to conservation and protection without the resources we all take for granted here , is incredible . �
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