Location
Key Information
| 63,068 km2 | MARINE AREA |
| 900,248 km2 | TOTAL AREA i |
Boundary: Convention on Biological Diversity (Unmodified)
2.0
April 2026
Feedback and Data Requests
Purpose
An area of the western South Pacific, located in the South Equatorial Current, currently has aragonite saturation rates that are the highest in the present day and are projected to be last to drop below the key thresholds of 3 and 3.5. Currently the rate of change of ocean acidification under each emission scenario is very similar over the entire region and so in the future no matter which ?carbon? emission scenario eventuates, this area remains the most likely to have highest aragonite concentrations for the longest. Emissions of anthropogenic CO2 are driving these changes rather than changes in SST and Salinity.
Regulations Summary
Restrictions
The United Nations designates this location an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area important for the healthy functioning of oceans. Management measures are not currently in place.
The modification of a description of an ecologically or biologically significant marine area, which can entail a modification of the textual description of the area, a modification of the ranking of the area against the criteria for such areas or a change in the location, shape, depth or size of the area, may be proposed for certain reasons enumerated in decision 16/16.
- Within national jurisdiction: Only the coastal State may submit descriptions or modifications. Submissions go through a 6-month public comment period, then SBSTTA and COP consideration for inclusion in the repository.
- Beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ): Any State (individually or collectively) may submit. Submissions are open for comment, workshopped, then reviewed by SBSTTA and COP for repository inclusion.
- Sovereignty safeguard: Any State may object to a submission on grounds of sovereignty disputes; objected submissions are frozen and cannot advance until the objection is withdrawn.
- Two-tier system: A formal repository (COP-endorsed) and a broader information-sharing mechanism (lower threshold, not COP-endorsed) are maintained.
Allowed
Nothing in the modalities shall prejudice the rights, jurisdiction and duties of States under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including in respect of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles.