Environment

New Zealand creates an ocean sanctuary twice its size

New Zealand is creating one of the world's largest fully protected ocean sanctuaries, twice the size of the nation itself, the country's prime minister announced on Monday.

"This is an area twice the size of our land mass and 50 times the size of our largest national park. It is truly a special place and we want to keep it that way," prime minister John Key said at a United Nations summit on Monday.

The 620,000 square kilometre (about 240,000 square miles) ocean sanctuary is in the Kermadec region, to the northeast of New Zealand.

The area is 35 times larger than the country's existing marine reserves and includes the world's longest chain of submerged volcanoes and the second deepest ocean trench, the New Zealand government said.

It's also home to several endangered sea turtle species, and serves as an important breeding and feeding ground for seabirds, whales and dolphins.