The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation congratulates Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on being named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The designation was made official July 30, 2010, during the 34th World Heritage Convention in Brasilia, Brazil, when UNESCO delegates voted to inscribe the marine national monument as one of only 26 mixed (natural and cultural) World Heritage Sites globally -- and the only mixed natural and cultural seascape.

Papahānaumokuākea’s extensive coral reefs are home to more than 7,000 species, one quarter of which are found only in the Hawaiian Archipelago. The area is also of great cultural importance to Native Hawaiians.

Located along the archipelago northwest of the larger Hawaiian Islands, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument encompasses nearly 140,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean – an area larger than all of the country’s national parks combined. It is the largest of the 14 sites in the NOAA-managed National Marine Sanctuary System and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world.

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was created by Presidential proclamation on June 15, 2006. Foundation Trustees Emeriti Sylvia Earle and Jean-Michel Cousteau, as well as current Trustee James Connaughton, contributed to the creation of the monument.

Photo by Louiz Rocha