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From the Front Lines of the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

Thousands of Native Americans have set up camp at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers in southern North Dakota to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This pipeline, if completed, would move 500,000 barrels of oil per day from the lucrative Bakken region in North Dakota across four states to Illinois. Developers contend that it would provide the safest, most cost effective way to deliver oil from North Dakota to the rest of the country.

The location the pipeline will cross the Missouri River causes great concern for the Standing Rock Sioux, however, whose reservation begins immediately downstream. The threat of spills and poisoned water sources has fueled their mass demonstration, attracting Native Americans from all around the continent. "Teepee Their concerns certainly seem valid, as early plans had the pipeline crossing the Missouri just above North Dakota's capital, Bismark, until it was moved downstream out of fears of the potential for poisoning the city's water supply. Many Native Americans I spoke with felt this was just a continuation of hundreds of years of racism and oppression.

Earlier this week, I joined my friend Tonya Bonitatibus, the Savannah Riverkeeper (who has battled a pipeline in her home watershed) in North Dakota to document through photos and video what was happening. I arrived around midnight and turned on to a dirt road along the Cannonball River to find the Sacred Stone Camp. As soon as I stepped out of the car I felt welcomed and began to understand the massive scale of this movement.

As I talked with the protectors (their preferred title, instead of protesters), the cultural importance of water could not be understated. I repeatedly heard that their creation story begins with water, hu "Protector mans are mostly water, and without water trees cannot grow and we won't have any air to breath. Losing this lifeline is not an option for the people here. Couple that with threats to sacred sites along the pipeline route, already being disturbed as construction begins, and people are ready for a fight.

The next morning we went to visit a camp on the highway where protectors clashed with construction crews days before as bulldozers tore up native burial and other sacred sites. The air was cold and quiet, with people sipping coffee as they kept a lookout. While all seemed calm I could tell there was a powder keg of energy ready to blow. That spark arrived when lookouts reported construction crews had started work on an area of the pipeline about 15 miles away.

We mobilized as dozens of masked people jumped into cars and pickup trucks and tore out. As our convoy sped down the final hill to the site, I could see construction workers sprinting for the safety of their trucks as they abandoned work for the day. Protectors took over the site (with no weapons, just song and prayer, it should be noted), raising flags and signs and even chaining themselves to the construction equipment. The police stood by watching, only trying to keep the road open for traffic.

"Protectors

The protectors occupied the site all day and in what was mostly viewed as a success, construction was halted for another day and no one was hurt.

As the battle continues on the ground, the protectors hope that the court system and government at large will use this as an opportunity to honor treaties and support the original occupants of this country. Here are some ways that you can help make that happen.

Corey Robinson is a National Geographic Young Explorer, photographer and filmmaker whose work focuses on people's connection to land and water. Follow along for more photos and updates on Instagram @coreyrobinson

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As Climate Changes Us, We Change Wildlife
It's easier and easier to understand the impacts a changing climate has on our daily lives: higher temperatures can affect everything from the food we eat, to the bills we pay for air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.

"2016-09-07-1473264806-6327821-Nikhilblogphoto.jpg"

Fencing in Siana Conservancy, highlighting the difference in pasture between fenced and unfenced land.

But we're not the only ones affected. Climate change also impacts wildlife and the habitat on which they depend. Changes in climate are altering the timing of life cycles, causing species to shift where they live, and in some cases even leading to extinction.

While the direct correlation between a changing climate and wildlife is increasingly clear, to date there's been less focus on understanding how human responses to climate change also impact wildlife and their habitat. That's where my work comes in.

I recently visited the Siana conservancy in Kenya, part of the Greater Mara ecosystem. This part of the world, home to the Maasai people of Kenya, has one of the most spectacular concentrations of wildlife on the planet, including the famous "Big Five:" lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and African buffalos. The Maasai people are pastoral, and they and their livestock have coexisted with wildlife for generations. However, successive seasons of failed or erratic rains, particularly during the long rainy season, have plunged much of the region into frequent periods of drought over the last few years.

During my visit, I met with community members and park rangers to understand how changing weather and climate over the last few years have impacted their daily lives. I wanted to find out what they are doing differently. How exactly are they responding to these changes?

In these conversations, I looked for hints of any novel responses that could be adopted elsewhere. And, I looked for examples of how their new "way of life" could be impacting the wildlife that also calls this area home.

I learned quickly that pasture is one of the most important resources in this area. The Maasai need it to feed the livestock that provides the foundation of local livelihoods. But, those large open plains also provide for millions of other grazing animals including wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles, particularly during the peak of the great animal migration across the Mara-Serengeti area - which is when I happened to visit.

In order to conserve pasture for their grazing livestock, the Maasai were erecting fences across large swaths of land, particularly during times of drought. Unfortunately, this fencing disrupts the migration of the native wildlife, and restricts their freedom to roam. This situation is further complicated by climate-driven weather events: rivers which used to flow year round are now seasonal, which is increasing competition for water between wildlife, humans and livestock.

However, there are solutions! During periods of drought, the Maasai are allowed to graze their livestock inside the protected conservancy in specified areas for certain amounts of time. They are investing in more productive livestock breeds and reducing the number of livestock they keep, particularly during lean times. And, communities are also harvesting rainwater, using the roofs of buildings to capture rain, then storing it in above and below ground water tanks for later use.

While this research is moving forward, we are beginning to share what we've learned with colleagues working in Africa and other parts of the world. At this week's IUCN World Conservation Congress, we're talking about these and other human responses to climate change, including the latest research in this emerging field. We're also talking about how WWF's new Climate Crowd initiative is crowdsourcing data to document human responses to climate change across the globe, and how others can use this data to develop interventions that help people and wildlife persist in a changing climate. It's exciting work and we're fortunate to work with incredible collaborators including IUCN, the Peace Corps and the USAID-funded Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group.

Climate change is already taking a toll on us and also on the wildlife that share this world with us. And, climate change will continue to exacerbate existing threats -- like habitat destruction and overexploitation - for the world's already imperiled wildlife. We can -- we must -- help species adapt to our changing world by ensuring that our own responses to climate change factor in the health and wellbeing of the wildlife and the habitat they depend upon.

This post is part of a series on the World Conservation Congress taking place this week. Held every four years, it brings together about 6,000 people, including heads of state, government officials, business leaders, representatives from indigenous groups, scientists, academics, influencers, educators, artists and NGOs, from all over the world to discuss and decide on solutions to the world's most pressing environmental challenges. To read all the posts in this series click here.

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Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy Restores Hand Function To Paralyzed Man
Kris Boesen, a young man paralyzed with a neck injury, has recovered hand and arm function, thanks to an embryonic stem cell research therapy originally funded by California's Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999.

Today, three months after stem cells were injected into his spine, Boesen is "able to feed himself, use his cell phone, write his name, operate a motorized wheelchair and hug his friends and family..."

Flashback: when my own son Roman Reed was paralyzed in a college football accident, September 10th, 1994, there was literally no hope offered for his recovery -- or anyone else with a spinal cord injury, which were typically described as "devastating."

But Roman had no interest in giving up. He challenged himself and everyone around him. With his inspiration, California passed and renewed a research funding law named after him.

"2016-09-07-1473256885-7181277-Reeds.jpg"

That was just the beginning.

Today, thanks to scientist Hans Keirstead's pioneering work on a Roman Reed Act grant, the efforts of dedicated scientists at Geron, Inc., funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM, which sprang from Palo Alto real estate developer Bob Klein's Proposition 71) and the unceasing efforts of too many people to name, a major improvement for the devastating injury has occurred.

Fremont, California is home to both Asterias Biotherapeutics, the company which provided the embryonic stem cells which were converted to the "insulating" oligodendrocyte cells which re-wrapped the damaged spinal cord nerves, and Roman Reed himself, for 21 years massively involved in the quest for cure, including the Roman Reed Foundation, and a new company, StemRemedium.

The first mention of paralysis in history was on the walls of an Egyptian tomb, which said: "Of paralyzed soldiers, deny them water, let them die, there is nothing that can be done."

But on this day, September 7, 2016, that grim outlook is no longer accurate; today, there is something that can be done.

And it all began with a small California law, Assembly Bill 750, (Dutra, D-Fremont), inspired by a young man, age 19, lying in a hospital bed, who refused to accept paralysis.

Don C. Reed is the author of "STEM CELL BATTLES: Proposition 71 and Beyond: How Ordinary People Can Fight Back Against the Crushing Burden of Chronic Disease," available now from Amazon.com.

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A View of Earth From The Milky Way
As a child I was always fascinated with astronomy, the stars, planets, and galaxies.

I can still remember my parents taking me to stargazing events on those clear somewhat-cool Florida "winter" nights. We were members of our local astronomy club.

I can remember staring for hours through a telescope, admiring the beauty within the known universe; but largely seeing what was in our own backyard, within our own galaxy.

The most amazing night sky I can remember was when I was 16 years old, sleeping in the Negev desert of Israel. A close second was at a summer camp in Georgia. That night happened to be a most beautiful shooting star evening.

Now it's been over a decade since I've been able to see more than a handful of stars in the sky. Mainly, because I live in a city with extreme light pollution

However, this past Labor Day weekend, I was in a remote locale, with minimal lights in the area, and was once again able to see a beautiful night-time sky filled with stars and even a glimpse of our own beautiful Milky Way galaxy.

It was then that I felt not only small, but a renewed sense of why it is that I care so deeply about conservation, sustainability, and protecting the species of our planet and, the planet, Earth, itself.

When you peer into the center of the Milky Way you're looking millions of years into the past. It is then that you realize our time on earth is not only short, but completely insignificant in the whole presence of the universe.

Yet, we humans, with our fairly short lives have made dramatic and profoundly significant changes to our home, Earth. In fact, scientists are calling this the Anthropocene period of our planet.

It took Earth billions of years to get to where it is now, with millions of species of animals, plants, algae's, fungi, etc.

It is only in the last few hundred years that humans have started to understand and make sense of our planet and the wildlife around us. But, it is only in the last 50 to 60 years that we have made the largest impact on the planet and its species.

We humans have single-handedly managed to release hundreds of millions of years of stored carbon into our atmosphere, allowing for a domino effect on ocean health, our health, tropical rainforest and habitat health, and the health of many living things.

In this extremely short timeframe, we have managed to cause several species to go extinct or to move closer to extinction.

We have developed toxic chemicals, plastics, and other types of materials that endanger the lives of several species including ourselves.

We have found systematic ways to kill hundreds of millions of animals a year, both domesticated, and wild; sometimes for food, sometimes for a trophy or a trinket, or sometimes even for a piece of art.

We have found systematic ways to kill other humans through genocides, wars, extermination. All of this accomplished in a mere blink of Universal time.

We have organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the United States Endangered Species Act, and others that are supposedly designed to protect species we deem to be endangered.

Unfortunately, it often feels like these organizations sit at the table and declare the fate of a particular species. But, of course without them, I suppose there would be no oversight or regulation on anything.

The level of discourse seems to have fallen dramatically too recently.

It seems like today, if you disagree with someone, particularly if it's on the Internet, you will receive nasty comments, cruel emails, and phrases that I don't believe people would utter in person. And in fact, some of my blogs about conservation and sustainability have really shown me the power of money and greed.

It pains me to think that we put money, things, ahead of life; any life.

When you look up into a dark night sky, that is not polluted by lights, and see the gorgeous magnificence of our own galaxy with somewhere around 200 to 400 billion stars, you realize that this is all we have.

Earth can rebuild itself, if we let it. Fish stocks can recover, coral reefs can rebuild, rain forests can expand. Wildlife can grow. But, when we continue on the path that we are on, taking from earth faster than she can rebuild, or reproduce, then we truly limit our resources, and those of all the other species on earth

It's always interesting, when you hear about the concept of colonizing another planet, say Mars. At least in my circles, all you hear about are people recolonizing. Nothing is said about all the other animals. The ones we kill for sport, or for amusement parks, or for their ivory.

It saddens me to think that while we evolved from other apes; our technology, our greed, and some of our desires destroy almost everything natural and unique about our blue planet

So, when I looked into the night sky this Labor Day weekend, and for the first time in almost 20 years could see thousands of stars and our gorgeous Milky Way, I didn't just see beauty, I didn't just see vastness, I didn't just see our smallness in our galaxy in our universe, or even on our planet. No, I saw all that we were and all that we have managed to take away from earth in just a few short years.

While I believe that these organizations are necessary to try and protect whatever wildlife we can, I desire a world where we don't need these organizations. I desire a world where I don't need to pray for six months of the year that dolphins will swim far and swim deep to escape murder. I desire a world where we don't need articles describing how many species are at the risk of extinction because of our ill will.

I desire a world where we and other wildlife can coexist in peace and harmony.

And, finally, I desire a world where I don't need to be writing this article.

Twitter: recipe4survival
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RecipeForSurvival/
PlanetExperts: http://www.planetexperts.com/author/danahunnes/

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Turning To Baby Boomers To Save The Next Generation From Alzheimer's
Today, more than 46 million people worldwide live with dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease International estimates that number will increase to more than 130 million people by 2050. Now imagine within the next 10 years that we're able to alter the trajectory of Alzheimer's disease and find a treatment that could stave off symptoms before we lose another generation. We would avoid the pain and suffering of the hundreds of millions of people impacted by Alzheimer's and the economic cost of the disease, which is estimated to be nearly $1 trillion dollars -- the value of Apple and Google, combined.

This is exactly what we aim to do with the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative (API) Generation Study, which launched this month.

After decades in medicine, I have seen first-hand the devastating impact that Alzheimer's disease can have on patients and family members. I have witnessed patients lose their identities and their ability to function as the disease takes hold. Families are often at a loss, struggling to understand and adapt to the confusing changes that happen to their loved ones. It is a heartbreaking journey.

Unfortunately, these stories are only becoming more prevalent. The World Health Organization sees Alzheimer's disease as a public health priority. Simply put, the disease will overwhelm us unless we do something to end it.

The Generation Study is testing whether either or both of two investigational compounds -- an active immunotherapy and an oral medication -- compared to placebo might prevent or delay the emergence of Alzheimer's symptoms in people who are at particularly high risk for developing the disease at older ages because of a relatively uncommon genetic profile they inherited from both parents.

Our study will enroll individuals in the Baby Boomer generation, specifically those people who are 60 to 75 years of age and currently show no signs of cognitive impairment -- and who also inherited two copies of the e4 type of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, the major genetic risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease at older ages. Only about 2 percent of the world's population carries two copies of the APOE4 gene.

The Generation Study is unique in being the first trial to require participants to learn whether they carry none, one or two copies of the APOE4 gene. Learning one's genetic status can be emotionally wrenching, so we will provide genetic counseling to those willing to participate. Individuals will speak with a healthcare provider, such as a genetic counselor, to discuss their APOE results and address their questions and concerns.

The Generation Study is among several API efforts intended to find faster ways to test promising new treatments by focusing on people at high risk for developing Alzheimer's because of their age and genetic status. Thanks to the altruism of our volunteer participants, we are able to avoid the costs and time associated with testing investigational drugs in much larger population samples, which would inevitably include people who are at minimal risk of developing Alzheimer's and whose results would provide little insight on a potential treatment.

If we find that either or both of these investigational compounds are successful in preventing or delaying the development of Alzheimer's symptoms in high-risk individuals, this would be a huge win for all of us. And it would also open the door to other studies with even greater reach.

Almost 25 percent of the world's population carries one copy of the APOE4 gene, and they account for almost two-thirds of all persons with Alzheimer's disease. Can success in the Generation Study lead to success in other people at risk? That's a very exciting question.

Even if this research only results in our ability to delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease by five years, the impact could be enormous. Some estimates indicate that even a short delay could reduce the number of Alzheimer's cases by 50 percent. That's quite a legacy for Baby Boomers to leave future generations.

If you'd like to learn more about participating in the Generation Study, visit GeneMatch (www.endALZnow.org/GeneMatch), a tool that we're using to recruit potential study participants.

Dr. Pierre Tariot is the co-principal investigator for the Generation Study. He is the director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and a board-certified physician in internal medicine and geriatric psychiatry. After intensive training in developing new treatments for Alzheimer's disease at the National Institutes of Health, he spent 20 years as a professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, where he directed a program dedicated to the care and study of people with Alzheimer's. He has devoted his career to helping patients and families cope with the effects of dementia and is a recognized leader in the development of new Alzheimer's treatments. He has published hundreds of scientific articles, is a widely sought-after speaker and consultant, and has won numerous awards for his service and research.

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Catastrophic Declines in Earth's Remaining Wilderness Over the Last 20 Years, Study Finds

Only 23 Percent of Wilderness Remains

"Click — Click the image to download the report (pdf)

Researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology show catastrophic declines in wilderness areas around the world over the last 20 years, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said today.

“They demonstrate alarming losses comprising a tenth of global wilderness since the 1990s an area twice the size of Alaska and half the size of the Amazon. The Amazon and Central Africa have been hardest hit,” the New York-based WCS added in a statement released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

“The findings underscore an immediate need for international policies to recognize the value of wilderness areas and to address the unprecedented threats they face,” the researchers say.

“Globally important wilderness areas—despite being strongholds for endangered biodiversity, for buffering and regulating local climates, and for supporting many of the world's most politically and economically marginalized communities—are completely ignored in environmental policy,” says James Watson of the University of Queensland in Australia and the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. “Without any policies to protect these areas, they are falling victim to widespread development. International policy mechanisms must recognize the actions needed to maintain wilderness areas before it is too late. We probably have one to two decades to turn this around.”

"Liana_2010_08_07_1891" — Photograph by Liana Joseph/courtesy of WCS

Losing Entire Ecosystems

Watson says much policy attention has been paid to the loss of species, but comparatively little was known about larger-scale losses of entire ecosystems, especially wilderness areas which tend to be relatively understudied. To fill that gap, the researchers mapped wilderness areas around the globe, with “wilderness” being defined as biologically and ecologically intact landscapes free of any significant human disturbance. The researchers then compared their current map of wilderness to one produced by the same methods in the early 1990s.

Losses have occurred primarily in South America, which has experienced a 30 percent decline in wilderness, and Africa, which has experienced a 14 percent loss.

This comparison showed that a total of 30.1 million km² (around 20 percent of the world's land area) now remains as wilderness, with the majority being located in North America, North Asia, North Africa, and the Australian continent. However, comparisons between the two maps show that an estimated 3.3 million km² (almost 10 percent) of wilderness area has been lost in the intervening years. Those losses have occurred primarily in South America, which has experienced a 30 percent decline in wilderness, and Africa, which has experienced a 14 percent loss.

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Losing the Last Jewels in Nature's Crown

“The amount of wilderness loss in just two decades is staggering,” says Dr Oscar Venter of the University of Northern British Colombia. “We need to recognize that wilderness areas, which we've foolishly considered to be de-facto protected due to their remoteness, is actually being dramatically lost around the world. Without proactive global interventions we could lose the last jewels in nature's crown. You cannot restore wilderness, once it is gone, and the ecological process that underpin these ecosystems are gone, and it never comes back to the state it was. The only option is to proactively protect what is left.”

"IMG_4423" — Photograph by Liana Joseph/courtesy of WCS

“We have a duty to act for our children and their children.” — James Watson

Watson says that the United Nations and others have ignored globally significant wilderness areas in key multilateral environmental agreements and this must change.

“If we don't act soon, there will only be tiny remnants of wilderness around the planet, and this is a disaster for conservation, for climate change, and for some of the most vulnerable human communities on the planet,” Watson says. “We have a duty to act for our children and their children.”

"IMG_2205" — Photograph by Liana Joseph/courtesy of WCS

“It should not be surprising that the wild and natural areas of the world are being altered and even destroyed so rapidly.” — Peter Raven, President Emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

“Given the fact that we have already converted a third of the world's land surface to agriculture of some kind, and that we are changing the atmosphere so rapidly that unless we start taking truly effective action now, it should not be surprising that the wild and natural areas of the world are being altered and even destroyed so rapidly,” said Peter Raven, Chairman of the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration and President Emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden. (Dr. Raven did not participate in the study.)

“Given the inequalities between nations, however, and our reluctance to help one another much with conservation, there is no particular reason to think the future will be that much better than the past. To solve these problems we would need a level population that the Earth could support indefinitely; equitable consumption based on social justice around the world; the empowerment of women and children, so that everyone could use the gifts that they have for our common good; and a mutual understanding based on understanding and even loving one another as dwellers on a single finite planet.”

Human Population Increases by 250,000 a Day

Raven noted that we live in a world in which the human population has grown from one billion people two centuries ago, when all of the land was being divided into nations and colonies for the first time, to 7.4 billion people today. With 250,000 people net being added every day, the total global population is expected to increase by 2.4 billion additional people during the next 34 years, by mid-century (2050), he said.

“There are already three times as many people on Earth as when I was born in the mid-1930s. The Global Footprint Network estimates that we are using 1.64 times the sustainable capacity of the Earth, up from 70 percent percent in 1970. What is most alarming about our situation, though is the exceedingly uneven division of consumption between the different countries on Earth, given that we are already well over the top in consuming productivity.”

Raven recalled that a half century ago, Adlai Stevenson, addressing a committee of the United Nations at a time when the human population and consumption were about half of what they are now, said:

“We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent upon its vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft. We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half miserable, half confident, half despairing, half slave to the ancient enemies of man, half free in a liberation of resources undreamed of until this day. No craft, no crew can travel safely with such vast contradictions. On their resolution depends the survival of us all.”

Racing to Consume the Most Possible

More than 200 million people have been killed in wars since countries began to vie with one another in earnest, Raven added. The U.S. has about 7,000 nuclear tipped warheads, and Russia 7,700. “Everyone wants to win the race to consume the most possible, whatever the cost to global stability, and conservation will not really become possible until we regain our collective sanity.

“The current article offers continuing proof that we are still a long way away from where we need to be. I hope that it and the other signs evident everywhere might inspire us to overcome our inherited instincts and find a way to preserve the world in a way of which we could be proud.”

More About the Research Article

Watson et al.: “Catastrophic Declines in Wilderness Areas Undermine Global Environment Targets”http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30993-9 /

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PHOTOS: Explore the Largest Protected Area on Earth
On Aug. 26, President Barack Obama created the largest protected area on Earth when he expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to a total 582,578 square miles (1.5 million square kilometers)--an area more than twice the size of Texas. Expansion of the monument will help conserve one of the most biologically and culturally significant places on the planet.

Papahānaumokuākea harbors over 7,000 species, a quarter of which are found nowhere else. It provides habitat for rare species such as the threatened green turtle, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, and the false killer whale, as well as 14 million seabirds representing 22 different species. In the first half of 2016, scientists exploring the area discovered a new type of ghost octopus, nicknamed "Casper," and three new species of fish.

The world's oldest known living organism--a deep-water black coral estimated to be as old as the Pyramids--is found in the monument's expanded boundaries.

President Obama's announcement builds on actions by six previous U.S. presidents--three Republicans and three Democrats--to conserve the ecosystems and wildlife of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In fact the original monument designation was made by President George W. Bush with the strong support of his wife Laura.

Explore the images below for a view of Papahānaumokuākea.

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Photo: Robin Baird/NOAA

False killer whales, like the two shown here, are among 24 species of marine mammals found in Papahānaumokuākea. As top predators, these whales reproduce only every six or seven years and birth only one calf each pregnancy. The expansion of the monument will benefit the species, along with endangered marine mammals such as the blue whale, fin whale, and sei whale.

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Photo: Image courtesy of NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Hohonu Moana 2016.

Bamboo coral thrives in deep water, including on some of the 110 seamounts (underwater mountains) in the area covered by the Papahānaumokuākea expansion. Seamounts host the majority of the known biodiversity in the deep sea--which reaches depths greater than 1,000 meters (3,281 feet)--where creatures grow slowly and reproduce late in life, making them highly vulnerable to fishing and other intrusions by man.

Photo: Mark Sullivan, NMFS Permit 10137-07/NOAA

The monk seal is the most endangered of the seal species in U.S. waters, with only 1,100 remaining in the wild. The expanded Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument provides important foraging ground for 97 percent of the population of the monk seal, the only marine mammal wholly dependent on coral reefs.

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Photo: Lee Gillenwater/The Pew Charitable Trusts

The endangered green turtle, above, is among the many species of marine and terrestrial life found in Papahānaumokuākea. Two other species of sea turtle--the leatherback and loggerhead--are declining in number, in part because they are often accidentally caught by commercial fishermen. Pacific leatherbacks experienced a 95 percent decline in the last two decades of the 20th century.

Photo: Jim Abernethy/The Pew Charitable Trusts

Marine scientists are hopeful that oceanic whitetip sharks, above, and silky sharks will use the expanded Papahānaumokuākea monument as a sanctuary to rebuild their populations. Numbers of both species have dropped considerably since industrial longline fishing became prevalent in the Pacific Ocean in the 1950s; fishermen are barred from targeting either species, but both frequently end up hooked as unintentional catch and are often returned to the water dead or dying.

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Photo: NOAA

Scientists say a specimen of black coral, like the one above, found in the monument is the oldest living organism on the planet, at 4,265 years; a gold coral specimen also found within the expanded reserve is 2,742 years old. The enlarged Papahānaumokuākea protects legions of deep-sea coral communities, which are thought to be more diverse than tropical shallow reef systems, according to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In some areas of deep-sea coral, more than 90 percent of the resident fish are found only there. Marine reserves can safeguard deep-sea organisms from practices such as bottom trawling, which has been shown to destroy reefs that took thousands of years to grow.

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Photo: Kiah Walker, volunteer/ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

These Laysan albatrosses, like more than 98 percent of their species, nest on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The bird on the left, named Wisdom, was banded by scientists in 1956 and returned to Midway Atoll in 2016 to hatch a chick. At least 65 years old, Wisdom is thought to be the world's oldest living bird and the oldest to successfully hatch a chick.

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Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands provide refuge for 14 million tropical birds from 22 different species, and in Midway Atoll, Laysan Island, and Nihoa Island an estimated 5.5 million breed there annually. The expanded Papahānaumokuākea protects more foraging area than the original boundaries of the monument for boobies (including red-footed boobies, above), shearwaters, albatrosses, and petrels.

Photo: Jérôme Petit/The Pew Charitable Trusts

These two traditional sailing canoes , the Hōkūle'a, left, and the Hikianalia, departed Hawaii in 2013 for a four-year voyage around the globe as part of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's effort to promote ocean conservation. Some young-adult Hawaiians are reviving the practice of voyaging, which includes navigating solely from environmental cues, and are using the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as their training grounds. The earliest inhabitants of Hawaii voyaged there from Polynesia as early as the sixth century A.D.

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Photo: Derek Wang/NOAA

In 2006, the establishment of the initial Papahānaumokuākea monument inspired a movement to protect large ocean spaces and challenged world leaders to safeguard ever-larger areas of ocean. In the past 18 months, more of the ocean has been set aside for protection than at any other comparable time period in history, with new marine reserves announced by Chile, New Zealand, Palau, the U.K., and the U.S. The expansion of Papahānaumokuākea adds protection for vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered species, and raises the bar for the size of future marine reserves around the world.

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Only 23 Percent of Wilderness Remains