Niue Ocean Wide (NOW) Trust — Ocean Conservation Commitments for a 127,000 km² Marine Park

Niue, a self-governing Pacific state of about 1,600 people, legally protects its Exclusive Economic Zone through the Niue Nukutuluea Multiple-Use Marine Park (established 2022) and the fully no-take Niue Moana Mahu Marine Protected Area, covering roughly 127,000 km² (about 40% of the EEZ). The Niue Ocean Wide (NOW) Trust, a New Zealand-registered charitable trust launched on 19 September 2023 with backing from Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility and the Special Climate Change Fund, was set up to fund the reserve's monitoring, compliance, enforcement and reef-health assessment work in perpetuity.

The Trust aims to capitalise an USD 18 million endowment through Ocean Conservation Commitments (OCCs) — individuals, companies or governments pay USD 148 to protect one km² of ocean for up to 20 years, with 127,000 OCCs available to match the size of the protected reserve.

The Government of Niue itself pledged around 1,700 OCCs, roughly one per resident. By mid-2026 the Trust reported 635 donors across philanthropic, bilateral, corporate and individual categories, alongside a separate USD 9 million UNDP/GEF-backed climate and ocean resilience package (Niue IECI) benefiting about 1,142 people, over 70% of the population.

As an early-stage endowment launched in 2023, the NOW Trust's public materials report funding structure and donor counts but not yet independent ecological outcome data such as fish-stock or reef-health trends — its evidence base today is strongest on financing mechanism and governance transparency rather than measured conservation impact.