The British Government has recently taken action to create the world's largest fully protected marine reserve around the Pitcairn Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean.

The reserve will cover an area of 834,334-square-kilometre and is slightly larger than the size of New South Wales.  Home to at least 1,249 species of marine mammals, seabirds and fish, the new reserve protects some of the most near-pristine ocean habitat on Earth.

Since March 2012 The Pitcairn Islands Council has been working with National Geographic's "Pristine Seas" project and UK-based PEW Charitable Trust to conduct scientific exploratory expeditions and preparing a proposal calling for creation of a marine reserve to protect Pitcairn's spectacular waters.

"Pitcairn Islands Tourism is guided by the principles of sustainable tourism development. The creation of the marine reserve adds a new dimension to our tourism offering. " said Pitcairn's Travel Coordinator, Heather Menzies. "Together with our World Heritage listed Henderson Island and our warm and hospitable people, who are a living history from the Bounty mutiny in 1789, we are a truly unique travel destination".

"With the support of a number of international scientific and conservation organisations, Pitcairn Islanders are committed to preserving our pristine environment"  Menzies added. "Allowing visitors to  experience one of the most intact natural marine areas in the world".

The Pitcairn Islands can be reached by regular shipping service from French Polynesia.  Full details about travelling to Pitcairn Island and current shipping schedules are available on the Pitcairn islands Tourism website www.visitpitcairn.pn or contact Tropics Marketing toll-free on 1300 713 132 and email pitcairn@tropicsmarketing.com.au. 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Richard Hankin
Tropics Tourism & Marketing Services, Sydney, Australia
Tel: + 61 409 512 944
E-mail: pitcairn@tropicsmarketing.com.au  

ABOUT PITCAIRN ISLAND

The Pitcairn Islands are a group of four islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that comprise the last remaining British Overseas Territory in the Pacific. Only Pitcairn Island, the second largest, is inhabited. Located halfway between New Zealand and Peru, with a lush and fertile climate, Pitcairn has a colourful history. In 1789 Fletcher Christian led a mutiny on the English vessel, HMAV Bounty and, several months later, together with 8 fellow mutineers and 19 Polynesians, sailed the ship to Pitcairn Island, one of the most remote and isolated islands in the world. By 1808, when the tiny colony was rediscovered, all but one of the mutineers and all the Polynesian men had died. The surviving mutineer, John Adams, eleven Polynesian women and twenty-five children remained. Today, almost all of the 50 or so inhabitants of Pitcairn are direct descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Polynesian consorts.