Government Closer to Protecting Habitat for Hawaiian Monk Seals in the Main Hawaiian Islands

The federal government today will publish its finding outlining its
intention to consider designating areas in the main Hawaiian Islands as
critical habitat for endangered Hawaiian monk seals.
The finding, to be published in the Federal Register, comes in response
to a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, KAHEA: The
Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, and Ocean Conservancy. The petition
seeks to have beaches and surrounding waters on the main Hawaiian
Islands protected as critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act
for Hawaiian monk seals to help one of the most endangered marine
mammals in the world avoid extinction.

The monk
seal currently has critical habitat designated only in the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands, a chain of small islands and atolls northwest of the
main islands. In that northwestern area, monk seals are dying of
starvation and populations of monk seals are plummeting. Seal pups have
only about a one-in-five chance of surviving to adulthood. Other
threats include becoming entangled and drowning in abandoned fishing
gear, shark predation, and disease.

In contrast,
monk seals in the main Hawaiian Islands are thriving and giving birth
to healthy pups. Hawaiian monk seals are present on each of the main
islands, and their numbers are steadily increasing. Thus, the main
islands are becoming important habitat for the monk seals.

"This government finding that it will consider designating critical
habitat for monk seals in the main Hawaiian Islands marks an important
step toward preventing the extinction of the Hawaiian monk seal," said
Miyoko Sakashita, a staff attorney with the Center for Biological
Diversity and author of the petition. "Habitat in the main Hawaiian
Islands is essential for the survival of the imperiled monk seals."

Habitat in the main islands will also provide a refuge for monk seals
as sea-level rise floods the low-lying Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Global warming is an overarching threat to the Hawaiian monk seal and
its habitat. Already, important beaches where seal pups are born and
raised have been lost due to sea-level rise and erosion.

"We have already seen the extinction of the Caribbean monk seal - a
relative of the Hawaiian monk seal. The threat is real and we must act
now," said Vicki Cornish, vice president of marine wildlife
conservation at Ocean Conservancy. "We are greatly encouraged by this
consideration to extend critical habitat designation in the main
Hawaiian Islands. It is a necessary step in making sure Hawaiian monk
seals do not suffer the same fate as their relatives."

Critical habitat designation will mean greater protection of Hawaiian
monk seal habitat under the Endangered Species Act. Once designated,
any federal activities that may affect the critical habitat must
undergo review to ensure that those activities do not harm the Hawaiian
monk seal or its habitat.

In passing the Endangered
Species Act, Congress emphasized the importance of critical habitat,
stating that "the ultimate effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act
will depend on the designation of critical habitat." Recent studies
have shown that species with critical habitat are twice as likely to
recover as species without it.

"What happens in the
coming few years will determine the survival of this species," said
Marti Townsend, Program Director of KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental
Alliance. "We cannot afford the extinction of a creature so sacred in
Hawaiian culture and endemic to these islands. And we cannot expect to
save this species without engaging in the hard task of meaningfully
protecting habitat."

The Endangered Species Act
requires that the government launch a detailed review on the habitat
needs of the monk seal and, if warranted, propose a new critical
habitat designation by the summer of 2009. The government will accept
public comments on the issue for 60 days. A copy of the original
petition is available at www.biologicaldiversity.org.