Phoenix Islands

Phoenix Islands
Photo by Luis Filipe Gaspar.

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area is a remote marine ecosystem known for its high biodiversity and exceptional beauty.

The site has experienced minimal human impact and profits from outstanding underwater clarity. The oceanscape consists of numerous large submerged volcanoes (seamounts), eight atolls which are important refuges for seabirds, and two submerged coral reefs. The property is also of crucial importance for the scientific study of marine ecosystems of the Pacific.

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Site Info

Full Name
Phoenix Islands Protected Area
Unesco ID
1325
Country
Kiribati
Inscribed
2010
Type
Natural
Criteria
7 9
Categories
Natural landscape - Marine and Coastal
Link
By ID

Site History

2010 Advisory Body overruled

IUCN advised Deferral, refocus and revise

2010 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Phoenix Islands Protected Area
Related

Phoenix island blog: Studying Climate Change with Coral Drilling

In the News

Amelia Earhart Plane Found near Nikumaroro? (2013.06.02)

Locations

The site has 1 locations

Phoenix Islands

Connections

The site has

Damaged
'Threatened' by Infestation of Rats
Ecology
Coral: "one of the world's last intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems" (AB ev)
Turtles and tortoises: turtle nesting and feeding grounds (green turtle)
Whales: Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), dwarf sperm whale (Kogia simus), pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps), short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), killer whale (Orcinus orca), false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuate), melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) (UNEP-WCMC)
Lagoons: There are three atoll islands with associated lagoons (AB ev)
Fish: Crit vii: The essentially pristine environment, outstanding underwater clarity, the spectacle of large groups of charismatic aquatic animals (e.g. bumphead parrotfish, Napolean wrasse, surgeonfishes, parrotfishes, groupers, maori wrasse, sharks, turtles, dolphins, manta rays, giant clams) in quantities rarely found elsewhere in the world
Geography
Marine sites
Pacific Ocean
Formerly inhabited islands: Only 1 of the 8 Atolls is currently inhabited (Kanton - 24 inhabs). However in 1938 UK initiated the "Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme". This is said by wiki to have been "the last attempt at human colonisation within the British Empire". The 3 Islands were then known as Gardner, Sydney and Hull. The scheme was not a success and the remaining families were evacuated in 1963. The islands are now officially "Uninhabited".
Polynesia: The main islands of Kiribati(The Gilbert Islands), to which they belong, are considered part of Micronesia. But the Phoenix Islands lie significantly to the SE and are geographically within the "Polynesian Triangle". Also, although they are now largely uninhabited, there are Polynesian archaeological remains e.g "(Orona ) contains evidence of prehistoric Polynesian inhabitation. An ancient stone marae stands on the eastern tip of the island, together with ruins of shelters, graves and other platforms."
Located in a microstate: Land Area/Pop (2009 est) Phoenix Islands - Kiribati 811 sq km/98000
Deepest: 6000 mtrs deep
Largest area: "The affirmative decision makes PIPA the largest and deepest World Heritage site in the world, covering an ocean territory more than 408,000 km2 (nearly 250,000 mi2, or roughly the size of California) and 6000 meters deep."
Seamount
Archipelagos: Volcanic and deposition) "A group of 8 atolls and 2 submerged reefs" (Wiki)
Isolated WHS: Roughly 2,767 KM from Chief Roi Mata's Domain
Atoll: "collection of atolls"
Situated in one of the SIDS: Kiribati (2010)
History
Castaways or shipwrecked mariners: Amelia Earhart
History of Aviation: site of Amelia Earhart's planecrash
Once Claimed for the USA: Claimed by US under the Guano Islands Act of 1856 ("federal legislation passed by the U.S. Congress that enables citizens of the U.S. to take possession of islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located anywhere, so long as they are not occupied and not within the jurisdiction of other governments" - Wiki). UK also claimed them as part of Gilbert and Ellis. Situation not fully resolved until Treaty of Tarawa between US and Kiribati in 1979 when some (but not all) islands were "given up" by the US.
Religion and Belief
Phoenix: The name "Phoenix" for this group of islands seems to have been settled on in the 1840s, after an island of that name within the group. Phoenix Island was probably named after one of the many whaleships of that name plying these waters in the early 19th century. (wiki)
Science and Technology
Space Exploration: Kanton Island within the Phoenix Islands Protected Area was home to a groundstation used by the US to track manned space missions during the Project Mercury and Project Gemini programs in the early 1960s.
Timeline
Cretaceous: Atoll and reef island development began when the volcanic foundations were still emergent islands in the Cretaceous to Eocene periods (AB ev)
Trivia
Built or owned by British: Were part of the British "Gilbert + Ellis Islands. The atoll of "Orona was leased in 1916 to a Captain Allen of the "Samoan Shipping and Trading Company", and became a copra plantation. Allen's lease was bought out by the British government in 1938." (Wiki)
Built or owned by Americans: "Kanton .... was eventually abandoned after serving a brief stint as a U.S. missile-tracking station. Today, the island still exhibits the remains of the airline and military presence, with 41 persons (as of 2005) residing there, most living in abandoned structures from the U.S./UK occupation (1936-1976)." (Wiki)
Visiting conditions
Takes more than 5 days to visit: By private or chartered yachts only. Cruises may be scheduled in the future stopping at Kanton.
One thousand visitors or fewer: DD : “A National Tourism Strategy is currently being prepared. There are plans for tourism development in at least two of the islands.” (AB ev)
WHS on Other Lists
Biodiversity hotspot: Polynesia-Micronesia
Located in a TCC Territory: Phoenix Islands
World Heritage Process
Only WHS in their country
Slow Starters: 2000-2010 : 10 years
First inscriptions: Kiribati 2010

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The Plaque

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