Kiribati

Phoenix Islands

WHS Score 1.74
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1.5

  • Harry Mitsidis

3.0

  • 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.

Community Perspective: this site has been unreviewed so far.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Phoenix Islands Protected Area (ID: 1325)
Country
Kiribati
Status
Inscribed 2010 Site history
History of Phoenix Islands
2010: Advisory Body overruled
IUCN advised Deferral, refocus and revise
2010: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • vii
  • ix
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
  • pipa.neaq.org — Phoenix island blog: Studying Climate Change with Coral Drilling
News Article
  • June 2, 2013 — Amelia Earhart Plane Found near Nikumaroro?

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Marine and Coastal
Travel Information
Takes more than 5 days to visit
Takes more than 5 days to visit
By private or chartered yachts only. Cruises may be scheduled in the future stopping …
One thousand visitors or fewer
One thousand visitors or fewer
DD : “A National Tourism Strategy is currently being prepared. There are plans for …
Recent Connections
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Connections of Phoenix Islands
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)
  • Atoll
    "collection of atolls"
  • Isolated WHS
    Roughly 2,767 KM from Chief Roi Mata's Domain
  • Situated in one of the SIDS
    Kiribati (2010)
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)
History
  • History of Aviation
    site of Amelia Earhart's planecrash
  • Castaways or shipwrecked mariners
    Amelia Earhart
  • 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.
Ecology
  • Lagoons
    There are three atoll islands with associated lagoons (AB ev)
  • Coral
    "one of the world's last intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems" (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
  • 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)
  • Turtles and tortoises

    turtle nesting and feeding grounds (green turtle)

Damaged
World Heritage Process
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)
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Cretaceous
    Atoll and reef island development began when the volcanic foundations were still emergent islands in the Cretaceous to Eocene periods (AB ev)
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.

    See en.wikipedia.org

Visiting conditions
News
06/02/2013
Amelia Earhart Plane Found near Ni…
Recent Visitors
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Visitors of Phoenix Islands
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