Protecting A Gem In The Cook Islands

A beachside sleeping hut on an Anchorage Islet beach covered almost to the water’s edge by lush coconut palms. (All Photos: Courtesy of Cook Islands National Environment Service)

Ian Karika, chairman of the Cook Islands Environment Authority and author of the bill, believes that the passing of this "crucial" piece of legislation will put to rest all the recent maneuvres and proposals for exploitative commercial ventures on Suwarrow, one of the most remote atolls in the Cooks.

"This legislation will have teeth to protect Suwarrow as a national park," says Karika.

The large uninhabited atoll in the northern Cook Islands was named after a Russian ship Suvorov that visited in 1813. The present spelling of the name was accepted by New Zealand when it annexed the 28 islets surrounding the lagoon in 1901. During World War II, Suwarrow was part of the Allied coast watch network in the Pacific Islands.

The atoll is diverse with a stony, rugged terrain with coarse gravel and exposed reef base in the north and eastern beaches. Finer sands are found at the protected lagoon side, forming picturesque beaches.

Anchorage Islet provides the most striking view with beaches covered almost to the waters edge by lush coconut palms. It provides excellent mooring for visiting yachts and is the site of the park jetty.

When passed by Cook Islands' Parliament, the new act will put in place a body dedicated solely to managing the park and its welfare. Currently the atoll is administered by the National Environment Service. The Cook Islands Parliament is expected to deliberate and endorse the bill later this year.

Some of Suwarrow’s residents – an adult female frigate bird, top, and a young red-footed booby, bottom.

Suwarrow has the largest bird population in the Cook Islands, boasting more than half-a-million birds of 13 different species, according to a 1993 count carried out by zoologist Ed Saul.

Since 1985 a resident caretaker has been placed in Suwarrow every year, except during the cyclone season, to oversee visiting yachts. Most visitors hear of Suwarrow via Tom Neale's book An Island to One's Self and the writings of Robert Dean Frisbie, who was on the island with his family during a hurricane in 1942.

In recent years Cook Islands-based, Oxford University graduate Dr. Graham Wragg, has made various visits to the national park on his double-hull catamaran for ecotourism and dive expeditions (www.pacific-expeditions.com).

His experiences prove that "Suwarrow is just as beautiful underwater as it is on land."