At the 2012 Pacific Islands Forum, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Hon. Henry Puna, announced the Cook Islands Marine Park encompassing approximately 1.1 million square kilometres, including the southern half of the Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone.

By creating the Park, the Cook Islands Government signalled its commitment to sustainable development and its intention to balance economic growth interests in sectors such as such as tourism, fishing and agriculture with effective marine and coastal biodiversity conservation.

Since the Prime Minister’s announcement interested stakeholders have been undertaking preparatory work to establish the multi-use marine park in a manner that achieves its conservation objectives while remaining consistent with both Cook Islands custom and the needs of various marine resource users.

On 5 March 2014, government and non-government stakeholders held a workshop in Rarotonga to consider issues and options relating to the legal and institutional aspects of the marine park. Providing technical assistance at the workshop was Dr Justin Rose, Adjunct Research Fellow at the UNE AgLaw Centre, who also authored a report that helped guide workshop discussions.

“The workshop was really productive. Establishing a marine park on this scale is a very complex undertaking that requires the close cooperation of all involved. The discussions showed that the Cook Islands Government is progressing well towards successfully establishing the marine park”, said Dr Rose.

The participation of UNE’s Dr Rose, who is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Law of the University of the South Pacific, was facilitated and supported by the Oceania Regional Office of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.