Photo: Seacology
Former Kiwi rugby league star Kevin Iro has gone from sports champion to ocean champion.
After an exceptional 14 year professional and international sporting career Iro moved to the Cook Islands where he was alarmed to find once vibrant reefs and lagoons, damaged and depleted.
It led him to spearhead Marae Moana - the world's largest multi-use marine park, extending across two million square kilometres of ocean.
His work has now been recognised with a prestigious Seacology award for exceptional achievement in preserving island environments and culture.
But with mining companies eyeing up valuable deep sea rocks and the ongoing pressures from commercial fishing, there are still plenty of challenges ahead.
