As of today, the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area near Antarctica, with its area of 746,000 square miles, isthe largest fully or highly protected Marine Protected Area (MPA) on Earth. However, during the conference, The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu Governments unveiled plans to establish the Melanesian Ocean Reserve to protect 2.3 million square miles. It is roughly the size of the Amazon rainforest and would be three times larger than Ross Sea Region.
The reserve will unify the national waters of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea. It will link them to the already protected Exclusive Economic Zone of New Caledonia, creating one of the world's largest interconnected ocean conservation zones. President Moetai Brotherson of French Polynesia has also announced plans for an MPA spanning nearly 1.9 million square miles. More than 420,000 square miles will be designated as highly or fully protected.
