Hawaii navigator earns international ocean stewardship honor

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Hawaii navigator has received an international honor for his work in ocean stewardship.

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Polynesian Voyaging Society CEO and Pwo Navigator Nainoa Thompson was named the first international ambassador for Tainui Ātea — the world’s largest marine protected area — during World Oceans Day events in French Polynesia earlier this month.

The recognition came as French Polynesia expanded protected marine zones near the Marquesas and Austral Islands, bringing the total protected marine area to about 1.6 million square kilometers.

“It’s reassuring that someone like Nainoa Thompson, a true champion of the ocean, accepted that we offered him to be our ambassador for Tainui Ātea,” French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson said.

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“The native people of French Polynesia base the definition of marine protection on long-term, 1,000-year-old traditional management and stewardship of the oceans,” Thompson said. “Tainui Ātea is a massive undertaking. It’s a huge project. There’s a lot of work to do, and my role is just to help and support.”

While in Tahiti, Thompson and other Polynesian Voyaging Society representatives also met with voyaging organizations, canoe builders, educators and cultural practitioners to strengthen collaboration among traditional voyaging communities across the Pacific.

The visit also coincided with the 50th anniversary of Hōkūleʻa’s historic 1976 voyage to Tahiti, which helped revive traditional Polynesian voyaging and navigation and sparked a cultural renaissance throughout the Pacific.

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