On June 7, 2026, President Moetai Brotherson announced that French Polynesia is adding 520,000 km² of fully protected ocean — an area larger than France itself. With this move, 30% of its waters are now off-limits to mining, trawling, and industrial fishing forever.
The World's Biggest Ocean Sanctuary Just Got Bigger
On June 7, 2026 — the eve of World Ocean Day — French Polynesia's President Moetai Brotherson announced that his country would add 520,000 km² of fully protected ocean to its marine estate.
That single announcement permanently shielded an area larger than France itself from mining, trawling, and industrial fishing.
>> "We are not just protecting our waters. We are honouring our ancestors and fulfilling our duty to future generations."
— President Moetai Brotherson
30% of a 5-Million km² Territory
French Polynesia's exclusive economic zone spans nearly 5 million km² across the central South Pacific — one of Earth's largest maritime territories, home to pristine coral reefs, whale nurseries, and deep-sea ecosystems still largely unknown to science.
With this expansion, 30% of French Polynesia's EEZ is now under the highest level of protection: no mining, no trawling, no industrial fishing. No exceptions.
This is the single largest national contribution ever made to the global 30×30 goal — the international commitment to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030.
What Full Protection Means
The zones include the waters around the Austral Islands, the Marquesas Islands, and the western Society Islands. Deep-sea trenches, seamounts, and coral atolls that had never been commercially exploited are now permanently shielded.
For the species living there — humpback whales that breed in these waters, the world's largest hammerhead shark population, and deep-sea creatures still unnamed by science — the designation changes everything.
>> "The ocean does not need us to manage it. It needs us to leave it alone."
Globally, less than 10% of the ocean is currently protected. French Polynesia just showed what it looks like when a government treats ocean protection as a moral obligation, not a negotiating position.