Obama to create world’s largest marine reserve

WASHINGTON – Agence France-Presse

U.S. President Barack Obama salutes upon his return to the White House in Washington, U.S. after visiting flood damage area in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August 23, 2016. REUTERS photo

President Barack Obama will travel to his native Hawaii next week to establish the world’s largest marine reserve and burnish his environmental legacy.

The outgoing president will announce a massive expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument across a swath of the Pacific.

The protected area, which is already bigger than Greece or North Korea, will almost quadruple in size to 1.5 million square kilometers the White House said.

Obama will also travel to Midway Atoll, inside the protected area, to underscore the decision.

There he will make the case that climate change “makes protecting our public lands and waters more important than ever,” according to the White House.

Papahanaumokuakea is home to a bewildering array of more than 7,000 marine species, including black coral, which can live more than 4,500 years.

The marine protected area is considered federal land where commercial fishing is prohibited.

Obama has made conservation and climate change a central pillar of his presidency -- in the face of Republican opposition in Congress -- forging international climate accords and promoting national parks.