Location Profile: The Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve

Key Features:  

• Vast scale and pristine ecosystems – covers 834,000 km² of ocean, protecting some of the planet’s clearest waters, extensive coral reefs, and deep-sea habitats largely untouched by industrial activity. 

• Extraordinary biodiversity – Home to over 1,200 known species, including many endemic fish, migratory whales, sea turtles, and rare deep-sea organisms. 

• Strict protection measures – Enforced “no-take” zone prohibits all commercial fishing and extractive activities, allowing only limited, sustainable fishing for local use. 

• Strong community led citizen science - islanders contribute valuable observations by recording wildlife sightings, monitoring fish stocks, and noting environmental changes 

When we visited:

April 2025 

Overview: 

The Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve, one of the world’s largest protected ocean areas, is fascinating. It surrounds the four remote islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno in the South Pacific. In the early 2010s, local residents, conservation organizations, and the UK government began exploring ways to safeguard the area’s remarkably intact marine environment.

After the 50 residents unanimously voted for the marine reserve, in March 2015, the United Kingdom officially designated the Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve, protecting roughly 834,000 square kilometres (322,000 square miles) of ocean. 

The reserve’s creation was strongly supported by the Pitcairn islanders, whose small population of around 50 people relies on the surrounding waters for both subsistence fishing and cultural identity.

Recognizing that their isolation offered a rare opportunity to preserve a nearly untouched ocean ecosystem, they agreed to strict protections that ban large-scale commercial fishing. This local commitment ensured the reserve would safeguard biodiversity while allowing limited, sustainable fishing for community needs. International partners, such as the Pew Charitable Trusts, contributed research and advocacy, while the UK government provided legislative authority and enforcement systems, including satellite-based vessel monitoring. 

Key features of the Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve include some of the world’s clearest waters, extensive coral reefs, and seamount ecosystems that harbor over 1,200 known species, many found nowhere else.

Its isolation has spared it from the impacts of industrial fishing and heavy pollution, making it a living laboratory for ocean health. Strict no-take rules preserve its rich biodiversity, from migrating whales and turtles to vibrant reef fish and rare deep-sea life. Today, the reserve stands as both a testament to small-island stewardship and a global model for large-scale, community-engaged marine conservation. 

The success of an MPA rests on the shoulders of a local community. Citizen and community science was an important feature in both the creation of and ongoing stewardship of the reserve. Given the difficulty and cost of frequent scientific expeditions, islanders contribute valuable observations by recording wildlife sightings, monitoring fish stocks, and noting environmental changes in everyday life and via dedicated expeditions. Some use simple tools like logbooks, cameras, and even smartphone apps to document their findings, providing year-round data between formal research visits. This blend of traditional ecological knowledge and modern technology ensures that local experience feeds directly into global conservation efforts. 

When ordinary citizens, as opposed to only brilliant scientists, are given the opportunity to participate in studies, and are encouraged to conduct some aspect of research by themselves, the change in ones outlook towards scientific research creates an infectious positive attitude among community members.

Reflections:  

Very once in a while, you get to make a lifelong dream come true.  

I (Duncan) was 8 years old when the film Mutiny on the Bounty came out, starring a very young Mel Gibson and a slightly less young Anthony Hopkins. I didn’t know or care anything about the actors, but I can remember being gripped by the story of discovery and adventure, and of the idea of an island so remote, that no one could find you.

In the following years as a ‘boat kid’ growing up onboard, and into adulthood, I had and continue to have a huge interest in historical naval novels, including anything and everything to do with the Bounty, and Pitcairn Island where the British mutineers and their Tahitian companions went to hide, and where their descendants continue to live to this day. 

In adulthood, the Pitcairn Island group crossed into my radar in a very different way. My career focus has been on ocean conservation and particularly working on the issue of  illegal fishing, including the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). While most of my work has taken place in other regions of the world, in the early 2010’s I was for a short time on a working group that eventually led to the establishment of the UK’s Blue Belt Programme, set up to manage the huge areas of ocean that surround the  generally small and outflung British islands around the world, including in the Pacific.   

Here also my interest crossed with Larissa’s, who has worked on a couple of projects that have focussed on the terrible plastic pollution that washes up on these remote islands, particularly Henderson. Despite its location far from any major population, Henderson Island has been billed the ‘most polluted place on earth’ - conservative estimates suggest that 3,500 to 13,500 new plastic items wash up on Henderson every day.  

So, as we planned this ocean adventure that we’re on, a visit to the Pitcairn Islands was high on our list. In April, after a 3400 nautical mile crossing from Mexico (see our trip report here!) we made landfall on Henderson Island, staying for 2 days before the weather pushed us out and on to Pitcairn Island itself, where we managed to stay for 3 more, very bouncy days.  

Henderson was wonderful, and heartbreaking. To land after a Pacific crossing at a truly remote and uninhabited Pacific islands was a privilege, and the unique vegetation and birdlife was incredible. However the plastic pollution is truly awful, and everywhere along the shoreline. Some of it had obviously been at sea for a long time, some looked very new. Fishing gear made up a large proportion of it, but we found everything from toys to shoes, plastic bags to bottles. Heartbreaking. 

Pitcairn is truly the most welcoming place we have ever visited. That said, the anchorages are awful, and the landing frankly crazy. But once ashore, we have never felt more welcomed, or been somewhere that felt more peaceful than this island and it’s community - only 27 islanders were home at the time. To be able to explore Pitcairn and its history in person was just wonderful, and to learn more about this community, their lives, and their pride in their islands and the marine reserve was humbling - with special thanks to Bren, Simon, Miss T and all those who made our visit so special. A truly once in a life time experience.

Examples of Citizen Science Projects in the Ocean Directory that you can get involved in: 

• Marine Debris Tracker 

• iNaturalist 

• Invasive Species in Pitcairn Islands 

Other useful information: 

If you're planning to visit Pitcairn Island by yacht be sure to read the Biosecurity leaflet about how to minimise your impact on the local environment and report any invasive species you see while visiting the island group - see it here.