10 Years of Ocean Protection: Stories & Photos

Hundreds of Keiki Make Custom 10th Anniversary Buttons
During Aquarium Ocean Literacy Event

Kids of all ages, including not a small number of adults, created their own sea creature buttons in recognition of the 10th Anniversary of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. Staff from Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which was established after the reserve, manned an outreach table on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010 at the Waikiki Aquarium’s first Ocean Literacy Day. Created to bring attention to ocean conservation and the wide range of books and publications on the subject that are available, the event saw more than 1100 people pass through the aquarium’s front entrance; typically the aquarium records about half that number of visitors on a Saturday morning. The Monument provided button templates depicting sharks, Hawaiian Monk seals or green sea turtles and encouraged young and old artists to color their own, before their creations were pressed into 2 ½ inch buttons which also included text: “10 Years of Ocean Protection-the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. During the 3-hour long event, more than 250 buttons were created and participants also received brochures on the 10th Anniversary, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument brochures, and brochures on the Monument’s Mokupāpapa Discovery Center at Hilo, HI. Since the beginning of 2010, Monument outreach events have helped spread the word about the significance of the coral reef ecosystem reserve to thousands of Hawai‘i residents and visitors. With the stroke of a pen on December 4, 2000, President Bill Clinton created the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve. This action was arguably the boldest and most pivotal action ever taken to protect the ocean within U.S.jurisdiction and ushered in a decade of further protections and global recognition for the vast, pristine marine ecosystems of the NW Hawaiian Islands. This continued in 2006 when President George W. Bush created the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest conservation area in the U.S. In August 2010, Papahānaumokuākea was designated as the first mixed World Heritage site in the U.S. in recognition of its universal and outstanding cultural and natural features.