Chile has expanded full marine protection to over one million square kilometers of ocean, making it one of the three largest fully protected marine areas on Earth. The expansion adds strict protections to 360,000 square kilometers around the Juan Fernández and Nazca-Desventuradas marine parks, bringing Chile's total protected ocean to 946,571 square kilometers — now exceeding 50 percent of its national waters.
"Expanding marine protections is not only about conserving biodiversity, but it's also about safeguarding our culture, our traditions, and the future of our children," said Pablo Manríquez Angulo, mayor of Robinson Crusoe Island.
A Haven for Wildlife
The remote Pacific ecosystems covered by the expansion support an extraordinary range of life. The Juan Fernández archipelago is home to the endemic Juan Fernández fur seal, a species that was once hunted to the brink of extinction but has made a remarkable recovery under protection. The waters also host whales, sea turtles, seabirds, and hundreds of species of fish found nowhere else on Earth.
Pioneering oceanographer Sylvia Earle called the region a "message of hope," praising the community-led conservation efforts that made the expansion possible. The archipelago, sometimes called "the Galápagos of the South Pacific," has been recognized as a biological hotspot for its exceptional concentration of unique species.
Community-Led Conservation
What makes Chile's approach stand out is that it's been driven by local communities, not just top-down government policy. The approximately 1,000 residents of the Juan Fernández Islands signed a historic agreement to support the expansion, recognizing that protecting their surrounding waters means protecting their way of life.
Fishing communities, in particular, have been central to the effort. Rather than seeing conservation as a restriction, many local fishers view it as an investment — healthier, better-protected waters mean more sustainable catches in the long run.
A Global Example
The expansion aligns with international efforts to protect 30 percent of the global ocean by 2030, a target set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Chile is now well ahead of that benchmark for its own waters and is seen as a model for other nations grappling with how to balance economic development and marine conservation.
Building on more than 580,000 square kilometers of existing protections established over the past decade, this latest expansion strengthens what has been years of sustained, community-driven work. For the wildlife and communities that depend on these waters, it's a landmark moment — and a powerful demonstration that large-scale ocean conservation is not only possible but practical.
