Rockhopper penguins on Tristan da Cuhna, Photo: Andy Schofield/Pew Charitable Trust via AP

Tristan Da Cuhna is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The government of the island is now creating the fourth largest completely protected marine area in the world and the largest in the Atlantic. Fishing and other “extractive activities” will be banned from 627,247 square kilometers (242,181 square miles) of ocean around Tristan da Cunha and the archipelago’s three other major islands.

The Associated Press reports that the sanctuary will be the biggest “no-take zone” in the Atlantic Ocean and the fourth biggest anywhere in the world, protecting fish that live in the waters and tens of millions of seabirds that feed on them, the territory said. The isolated area, roughly equidistant between South Africa and Argentina, supports 85% of the endangered northern rockhopper penguins, 11 species of whales and dolphins, and most of the world’s sub-Antarctic fur seals, according to the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project.

“Our life on Tristan da Cunha has always been based around our relationship with the sea, and that continues today,” James Glass, the territory’s chief islander, said in a statement. “That’s why we’re fully protecting 90% of our waters, and we’re proud that we can play a key role in preserving the health of the oceans.”

The protection zone will become part of the U.K.’s Blue Belt Program, which is providing 27 million pounds ($35.5 million) to promote marine conservation in the country’s overseas territories. The initiative has now protected 11.1 million square kilometers (4.3 million square miles) of marine environment, or 1% of the world’s oceans, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.