Protected marine areas and low-lying atolls

Abstract

The isolated atolls of the Pacific have been an inviting target during this century for the hazardous activities of the developed world. Bikini, Enewetak, Christmas, Johnston, Moruroa, and Fangataufa have all been used for nuclear tests, and these tests are continuing at Moruroa and Fangataufa. Johnston now contains thousands of canisters of nerve gas, and a large chemical disposal facility has been built to incinerate these substances and other chemical weapons now stored elsewhere. The small islands of Palau have been looked at as the possible site for an oil superport and may be used for a US military base in the future. Most recently, the government of the Marshall Islands has suggested that Bikini, Enewetak, and Erikub Atolls might be used as storage sites for nuclear wastes.

These missions are hazardous to the marine environment and are incompatible with the protection of the unique ecosystems found at these atolls.

A low-lying atoll cannot be distinguished from its surrounding marine environment and must be thought of as an inherent part of the ocean ecosystem. An atoll is inevitably subject to typhoons and tsunamis (tidal waves), and any hazardous substances on its narrow land area can be swept into the surrounding ocean system. Particularly when one is dealing with long-lived radioactive nuclides, or highly toxic chemical weapons, it is unrealistic to imagine that these materials can be separated from the ocean environment during the entire period that they present dangers.

The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and all the ‘regional seas’ treaties drafted with the assistance of the United Nations Environment Program, including the Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region (Article 14), require member nations to ‘take all appropriate measures to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems…’ Substantial efforts are now being made at the global, regional, and national level to identify appropriate ‘specially protected areas’ and to define the types of protection that should be provided for these areas. An isolated low-lying atoll is, almost by definition, a ‘rare or fragile ecosystem’ and all these atolls should be designated as ‘specially protected areas’ deserving of careful planning, management, and protection.