Helping create the world's third largest no-take zone

The Juan Fernández islands – 600 km west of Valparaíso, Chile – are home to rare and endemic animals, including the Juan Fernández fur seal, two petrel species and the Pink-Footed Shearwater, a migratory seabird that relies solely on the archipelago for nesting. Coastal fish species here reach the highest level of endemism in any marine ecosystem on earth. But they are at growing risk from the exploitation of fisheries in the area, which is often illegal, unreported and unregulated. 

The islands of Robinson Crusoe, Santa Clara, and Alejandro Selkirk, which comprise the archipelago, have some coverage from an existing series of marine protected areas (MPAs). To promote its expansion Blue Marine worked with local partners and the mayor, including creating a film in which islanders talked movingly about the importance of a healthy ocean to their lives. In 2025, the people of Juan Fernández presented the Chilean government with the expansion proposal. 

In March 2026 president Gabriel Boric signed a hugely significant decree that fully protects 337,000 sq km of the waters around the existing Juan Fernández and Nazca-Desventuradas marine parks. Once effectively implemented, the new fully protected area will cover a massive 899,268 sq km, making it the third largest no-take zone in the world, after the Ross Sea in Antarctica and the Papahānaumokuākea sanctuary near Hawaii.

The expansion will not only bring total protection of Chile’s waters to more than 50 per cent, it will also push global MPA coverage past 10 per cent of the world’s ocean for the first time.

Image credit: ©Andy Mann