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PAPAHANAUMOKUAKEA MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT

The Office of General Counsel
for International Law

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
Designated as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area
by the International Maritime Organization

On April 3, 2008, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, an area that includes the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, received final designation as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a Specialized Agency of the United Nations. The U.S. proposal for PSSA designation was submitted in April 2007 for consideration by the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee and received provisional "in principle" designation in July 2007. With the April 3, 2008 final designation the PSSA became immediately effective. The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is the second marine protected area in the United States to receive PSSA designation (the other being the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which was designated as a PSSA in 2002). PSSA designation has been granted to 11 areas globally, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Archipelago. The newly designated PSSA is coterminous with the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which was established by President Bush in June 2006. It encompasses a 1,200-mile stretch of coral islands, seamounts, banks, and shoals; is home to more than 7,000 marine species; and contains 4,500 square miles of coral reefs.

Ship traffic has been identified as one of the primary anthropogenic threats to the vulnerable and valuable natural and cultural resources of the area. PSSA designation augments domestic protective measures by alerting international mariners to exercise extreme caution when navigating through the area.

As part of the PSSA designation process, on October 8, 2007 the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee adopted U.S. proposals for two associated protective measures designed to prevent damage to this fragile and integrated coral reef ecosystem from international shipping activities. First, the IMO approved the expansion and amendment of the six existing recommendatory Areas to be Avoided (ATBAs) in the area, enlarging the class of vessels to which they apply and augmenting the geographic scope of these areas as well as adding new ATBAs around Kure and Midway atolls. The ATBAs will appear on domestic and international nautical charts to direct vessels away from coral reefs, shipwrecks and other ecologically sensitive or culturally significant areas in the PSSA that may also be hazardous to navigation. Second, the IMO approved a ship reporting system for vessels transiting the Monument, which is mandatory for ships entering or departing a U.S. port or place and recommendatory for other ships. The ship reporting system will provide critical alerts and other information to assist mariners in navigating safely through the area. These ATBAs and the ship reporting system will be implemented in May 2008.

NOAA’s Office of General Counsel for International Law was instrumental in developing the United States’ PSSA submissions and securing their approval by IMO.

Additional reference information:Some of these links are to external sites.

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument only "Mixed Site" on U.S. Tentative List for Nomination to UNESCO as a World Heritage Site

On January 30, 2008, the Department of Interior submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) the new United States Tentative List or inventory of 14 sites in the U.S. of such outstanding universal value that they warrant consideration over the next decade for inscription on the list of World Heritage Sites. National Park Service News Release. World Heritage sites are of such international significance that the nations that manage them promise the world that they will preserve them for present and future generations. There are cultural and natural heritage sites that are as unique and diverse as the wilds of East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and the Baroque Cathedrals of Latin America. The United States was the prime architect of the World Heritage concept and the first country to ratify the World Heritage Convention, in 1973. The National Park Service manages all or parts of 17 of the 20 existing U.S. World Heritage Sites, including Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, and the Statue of Liberty, and serves as the principal technical agency for the U.S. Government to the World Heritage Convention.

While there are 14 sites recommended for their value (nine as cultural resources and four for their value as natural resources), the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is the only site recommended as a "mixed site" because of the outstanding universal value of both its natural and cultural resources. Most of the sites on the list are terrestrial. This Marine National Monument would be the first site included primarily because of marine resources as opposed to terrestrial resources.

Additional reference information:Some of these links are to external sites.

Publication of the NOAA Office of the General Counsel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce

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