A vast marine protected area (MPA) in the Pacific, protecting more than 1249 species of marine mammals, seabirds and fish, has been guaranteed in the latest UK government budget.

The reserve will ban commercial fishing in a huge area of 834000 square kilometers around the Pitcairn Islands. This volcanic island chain is mostly uninhabited, with the exception of the second largest, which is home to the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions.

The area covers one of the two remaining raised coral atolls on the planet, as well as 40 Mile Reef the deepest and most well developed coral reef in the world. It's also home to two species found nowhere else on Earth, the squirrelfish and the many-spined butterfly fish.