Samoa, an archipelagic country composed of nine islands in the South Pacific Ocean, is on the frontline of climate change. Rising sea levels, ocean warming and acidification all pose significant threats to the country’s coastal communities. To help protect its future, the Samoan government announced June 3 that it has enacted a law establishing a marine spatial plan to sustainably manage 100% of its ocean by 2030. The plan, which became law May 1, also establishes nine new marine protected areas (MPAs) that cover 30% of Samoa’s ocean, an area of 35,936 square kilometers (13,875 square miles), roughly the size of Taiwan.

The MPAs mean that Samoa meets its 30×30 ocean commitment, part of a worldwide agreement to protect 30% of Earth’s land and ocean by 2030 that countries made at the 2022 U.N. Biodiversity Conference. Samoa’s ocean is filled with deep trenches, underwater seamounts and coral reefs teeming with sea life. The new MPAs protect a place that is home to critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), blue sharks (Prionace glauca) and Taei’s dwarfgoby (Eviota taeiae), a fish found only on Samoan reefs. It is also a migration route for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).

“Samoa is a large ocean state, and our way of life is under increased threat from climate change, overfishing, habitat degradation, and much more,” Toeolesulusulu Cedric Pose Salesa Schuster, Samoa’s environment minister, said in a press release. “This Marine Spatial Plan [MSP] marks a historic step towards ensuring that our…This article was originally published on Mongabay