Tofia Niue: The Local NGO Behind a 40-Percent Ocean Sanctuary

Tofia Niue is the local nonprofit behind Niue Ocean Wide, a public-private partnership with the Niue government that in April 2020 declared the 127,000-square-kilometre Moana Mahu Marine Protected Area, banning extractive activity across 40% of Niue's exclusive economic zone. By April 2022 that reserve had been folded into the wider Niue Nukutuluea Multiple-Use Marine Park, putting all of Niue's ocean territory under some form of sustainable management. Every coastal village on Niue holds its own marine management plan governing its 3-nautical-mile fishing zone, keeping decision-making with local communities. The NOW Trust now funds long-term ranger patrols and research by selling Ocean Conservation Commitments to international partners.