New marine reserve planned for western Pacific

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The governments of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are teaming up on an ambitious plan to create a massive marine reserve covering six million square kilometers of ocean.

It's called the Melanesian Ocean Reserve, and if it goes ahead, it'll connect the waters of not just Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, but also Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.

It's being described as the largest Indigenous-led marine reserve in the world. 

While it's not officially in place yet, once it's up and running, it'll be one of the biggest protected ocean areas in the Pacific.