New Marine Protected Areas Policy
The recently announced Marine Protected Areas Policy sets up a new system for planning where marine protected areas, including no-take marine reserves, are to be located in each region. In future, the government expects proposals for new marine reserves to be considered by regional forums before Ministers decide on them. The forums will involve a broad range of community groups with an interest in the local marine area.
The new policy aspires to a comprehensive network of protected areas encompassing the full range of NZ's marine environments, but it seeks to ensure that the sites included in the network are chosen in a way that minimises the impact on existing users of the ocean.
The policy will see a team of experts scientifically classify the different types of marine environments around the country, and an assessment made of which environments have already been protected. Those environments that have not been protected will be tagged for consideration by local forums. The forums will have the job of:
- developing proposals for where new protected areas in particular regions should be located to plug the gaps in the marine protection network; and
- identifying what type of protection tool is most appropriate for each particular spot.
It's hoped the regional forum approach should bring certainty to marine users, as all the potential sites that might be proposed for protection in an area, and their impacts, can be considered at once. This, it's believed, will enable a consensus to be reached on how to minimise adverse effects on existing marine users.
Taking a big-picture view, it's hoped that adopting this new approach will enable smooth progress towards the government's goal of having 10 percent of NZ's marine area under some form of protection by 2010. To this end, the government wants at least one representative example of each habitat or ecosystem type in the new network to be protected by a marine reserve. Marine reserves will also be used to protect rare and unique sites.
Further information on this new policy can be found on the Ministry of Fisheries website at: http://www.biodiversity.govt.nz/seas/biodiversity/protected/mpa_policy.html |
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
Contact this person
