France, June 10 -- French Polynesia's President Moetai Brotherson on Monday announced that his country is on track to create the world's largest marine protected area (MPA). The ambitious objective, spanning nearly 23 percent of the archipelago's waters, came on the first day ofthe UN Oceans Conference in Nice.

"In French Polynesia, the ocean is much more than a territory: it is a source of life, culture, and identity," Brotherson told attendees at the UN Ocean summit in Nice on Monday.

"By strengthening the protection of Tainui Atea (the existing marine managed area that encompasses all French Polynesian waters) and laying the foundations for future marine protected areas in the Austral, Marquesas, Gambier, and Society Islands, we are ...