Parks & Reserves: Natural Park of the Coral Sea

"The Natural Park of the Coral Sea protects 1.3 million square kilometers (502,000 square miles) of marine ecosystems essential to the people, biodiversity and climate resilience of the southwest Pacific islands. A sanctuary for sharks, whales and turtles, New Caledonia is famously home to the world's third-largest population of dugong, the last remaining marine mammal that eats strictly plants. In addition, New Caledonia boasts one of the world’s largest lagoons at 24,000 square kilometers (over 9,000 square miles), circled by the second longest coral reef [after the Great Barrier Reef] at 1,600 kilometers (618 miles). For local people, the lagoon provides their daily fish and coastal protection, and is vital to their unique traditions, many of which date back thousands of years." In 2014, the park was established in response to overfishing and oil and gas exploration in the area that was threatening the immense biodiversity of this marine ecosystem.