Phoenix Islands Protected Area, Marine protected area in Central Pacific Ocean, Kiribati

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area is a marine reserve in the central Pacific containing eight coral islands. The area spans hundreds of kilometers of ocean with varied habitats and underwater mountains.

Kiribati nominated the Phoenix Islands Protected Area for UNESCO World Heritage status on 30 January 2009, its first nomination since ratifying the convention in 2000. The World Heritage Committee inscribed it on 1 August 2010 at its 34th session in Brasília, making it the largest and deepest marine World Heritage Site. Commercial fishing was banned from 1 January 2015, but the Kiribati government announced in November 2021 that it would terminate the protected area to boost tuna fishing, and the area was officially reopened to commercial fishing in 2023.

The reserve's name comes from the Phoenix Islands, whose eight low coral islands carry alternate names such as Hull, Gardner, Sydney and Phoenix. Only Kanton (Aba-Riringa) has residents, about 25 government employees and their families; the other islands are uninhabited. Five of the islands are designated Important Bird Areas, and migratory seabirds including shearwaters and petrels pass through.

The reserve lies between 1° and 7° south and 170° and 176° west, roughly midway between Australia and Hawaii, so access is by sea or air over long distances. Kanton (Aba-Riringa) is the only island with residents, about 25 government employees and their families; the other seven islands are uninhabited. A small sustainable-use zone around Kanton allows limited activity for that population, while the rest of the 408,250 km² area is closed to commercial extraction.

The 2000 surveys by Obura and colleagues found the Phoenix Islands reefs free of the bleaching and coral disease seen elsewhere in the Pacific, with live coral cover of 20–40%. Wave energy breaks coral on the southern, eastern and northern reefs, while fragile table and staghorn corals dominate the sheltered lagoons of Kanton and Orona.