In one of the largest ever private purchases of land for science and
conservation, the US Nature Conservancy has paid $35 million for the
Palmyra atoll, which contains one of the world’s richest coral reef systems.
Charles Kennel, director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San
Diego, calls it “a virtual treasure chest of science”. The atoll is home to the
world’s largest land invertebrate, the coconut crab, and an important colony of
red-footed boobies.
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