29 Jan 2008

Kiribati to declare Phoenix Islands a protected area

4:50 pm on 29 January 2008

Kiribati is today expected to declare the Phoenix Islands as the world's largest protected area.

The Phoenix Islands are located about halfway between Fiji and Hawaii.

The proposed protection zone is 185,000 square kilometers and once declared a protected area it would be out of bounds for commercial fishing.

Two years ago, Kiribati told a UN conference in Brazil that it would turn the area into a national park.