The Cook Islands are known for their lush tropical settings, exquisite clear waters, and welcoming communities in the South Pacific. This nation is extremely passionate about the conservation of the marine and ocean ecosystems they are surrounded by. We are extremely proud to have teamed up with Cook Islands Tourism for our #ReefSafeMeSafe Pledge campaign.
This #ReefSafeMeSafe Pledge campaign has stemmed from Little Urchin’s passion for saving the reef from damaging chemicals found in many conventional sunscreens. We want to ignite the movement against the unnecessary and preventable consequences to the marine ecosystem, simply by changing to a reef-safe sunscreen, and taking the pledge to do so.
If you want to learn more about this, read our article on Sunscreen that’s good for our reefs, and good for you.
Teaming up with the Cook Islands
The Cook Islands have been creating incredible movements for marine life in the Pacific Ocean, and when the opportunity came to join forces for this campaign, we at Little Urchin knew it was meant to be!
Consisting of 15 islands, this Pacific island nation has undertaken a remarkable feat, in legally declaring all of its Exclusive Economic Zone, (that is close to two million square kilometres of water), as a Cook Island’s multi-use Marine Park. It is called ‘Marae Moana’, literally translated to Sacred Ocean.
It is currently the largest commitment by a single country for integrated management and conservation from ridge to reef, and from reef to ocean. Marae Moana was legally designated on 12th July 2017 by the Marae Moana Act 2017 which has the primary purpose of protecting and conserving the ecological, biodiversity and heritage values of the Cook Island’s marine environment.
Prime Minister Puna said at the time: “The Marine Park will provide the necessary framework to promote sustainable development by balancing economic growth interests such as tourism, fishing and deep-sea mining, with conserving core biodiversity and natural assets, in the ocean, reefs and islands”.
“Mankind only has one earth, one atmosphere, and one global ocean. One last chance to save it all for future generations," presented the Hon. Prime Minister Puna of the Cook Islands at the UN Ocean Conference in June, 2017. “It is in our DNA to conserve our ocean.”
This is an impressive feat.
Reef Safety and conservation is at the core of Little Urchin’s values, so joining up with Cook Islands Tourism to spread the message of our #ReefSafeMeSafe Pledge campaign was a no-brainer!
If you’ve missed the memo, our #ReefSafeMeSafe Pledge campaign can be found here, read all about it, take the pledge, and you can go in the draw to win a holiday to the Cook Islands!
