The Phoenix Island Pro­tect­ed Area (PIPA) is a 408,250 sq.km expanse of marine and ter­res­tri­al habi­tats in the South­ern Pacif­ic Ocean. The prop­er­ty encom­pass­es the Phoenix Island Group, one of three island groups in Kiri­bati, and is the largest des­ig­nat­ed Marine Pro­tect­ed Area in the world. PIPA con­serves one of the world‘s largest intact ocean­ic coral arch­i­pel­ago ecosys­tems, togeth­er with 14 known under­wa­ter sea mounts (pre­sumed to be extinct vol­ca­noes) and oth­er deep-sea habi­tats. The area con­tains approx­i­mate­ly 800 known species of fau­na, includ­ing about 200 coral species, 500 fish species, 18 marine mam­mals and 44 bird species. The struc­ture and func­tion­ing of PIPA‘s ecosys­tems illus­trates its pris­tine nature and impor­tance as a migra­tion route and reser­voir. This is the first site in Kiri­bati to be inscribed on the World Her­itage List.