Thanks to the Ocean, we survive.

By Uri Avaka,  President of Te Mau o Te Vaikava, a marine conservation community organization based in Rapa Nui, Chile

I live on the most isolated inhabited island in the world.  

From the sky, Rapa Nui looks like a tiny volcanic rock in the middle of the deep blue ocean.  My Polynesian ancestors navigated the Pacific Ocean and arrived in Rapa Nui during the 13th Century, forging a life in this remote land. I am one of just 3500 Rapa Nui people who call this island home, located about 3,700 kilometers west of mainland Chile. 

While we may be a small island, we are rich in culture. The Rapa Nui people have worked very hard to live in such a remote area, and the ocean has always provided all that we need.  

I like to say we survive thanks to the ocean, and if we don’t protect it, everything — our culture, language, and way of life — will disappear

An island with brown cliffs and choppy water

Isla de Pascua (left) and Uri Avaka and her daughters Lana and Mila (right). © Te Mau o Te Vaikava and Uri Avaka

I grew up in a town surrounded by volcanoes and my home overlooked the harbour town of Hanga Roa Bay. When I was a child, I remember being at the end of a dock waving to my grandpa and father going out to sea to catch tuna. I’d play near the shore or lay in the grass as I waited for their return with our next meal in hand. 

Around 2012, my father noticed that the tuna had vanished from our waters. We suspected the large industrial fishing boats depleted the stock. For over four years, my father and most of the island’s fishers didn’t catch a single tuna. It was very difficult to watch them stressed and uncertain about how they would support their families.

Uri’s father, Petero Avaka Riroroko, and cousin, Arturo Edwards, with a large bluefin tuna. © Uri Avaka

While the tuna stock remained low, I had many discussions with my friends and family about how we could protect the ocean but we weren’t sure where to start. Then, about ten years ago, I heard a scientist speak about the importance of ocean conservation and how efforts in Fiji were making a real difference for their community.  

In that moment, I felt a calling to help organise my community to protect the ocean and our way of life. I realised that if I did not take action, my culture and our traditions may not be passed down to the next generation.  

Te Mau o Te Vaikava leads efforts to collect plastic from the ocean in the deep sea off of Rapa Nui. © Te Mau o Te Vaikava

I began working alongside my neighbours, the wider community, the local government and organisations to advocate for ocean conservation.

After five years of discussions and community engagement, in 2018, the people of Rapa Nui came together to protect the ocean by creating a 720,000-square-kilometer marine protected area called the Rapa Nui Multiple Use Marine Coastal Protected Area.

The marine reserve was created to restrict industrial commercial fishing, mining and other large-scale extractive activities while still allowing artisanal fishers, like my father and brothers, to continue their fishing activities to provide food for their families. 

One of the primary goals of the marine protected area is to reduce fishing pressure in our waters to allow marine populations to regenerate and thrive. Knowing this gives me hope that young Rapa Nui who leave to pursue education and careers will return with pride and a desire to steward the same waters our ancestors have taken care of for hundreds of years. 

Isla de Pacua. ©Te Mau o Te Vaikava 

To help keep my culture alive, I also walk along our rocky shores with other Rapa Nui women and my children to collect pipi—the small black shells that are unique to our island. We use these shells to make jewellery and decorate beautiful costumes for local dancing groups.   

During difficult times, my grandma, mother, and I would sell pipi to tourists, using the money to buy clothing and food. For some Rapa Nui families, these shells have even helped fund their children's university education.

These tiny gifts from the sea are more than decoration, they serve as a reminder of our resilience and the enduring connection of the Rapa Nui people to the ocean.

Through conservation, education, and cultural traditions like gathering pipi shells, we honour our ancestors while building a sustainable future. If we care for the ocean, it will continue to provide for us—just as it always has.

This story is provided by Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, which works with partners to advance the global 30x30 goal in collaboration with governments, artisanal fishers, and local communities for the benefit of future generations.