The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it
impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) New
Zealand.
Plans had been underway for a 620,000 square kilometre ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands/Rangitāhua to protect
what is one of the last precious and untouched places on earth. The proposal has long been supported by Ngāti Kuri, who
have an enduring relationship with the islands and wider marine area.
The Kermadec Rangitāhua Ocean Sanctuary would see around 15 percent of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone protected
and bring New Zealand significantly closer to having 30 percent of its ocean in highly-protected marine areas by 2030.
New Zealand committed to create a global network of Marine Protected Areas covering 30 percent of oceans by 2030 when it
adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the UN High Seas Treaty.
“Scrapping the Kermadec/Rangitāhua Ocean Sanctuary is a huge blow to marine protection in Aotearoa and means there is no
chance of New Zealand meeting its international commitments to protect 30 percent of our ocean by 2030,” says WWF-New
Zealand’s CEO Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb.
“The Kermadecs are a critical hotspot for global biodiversity and home to rare birds, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and
fish species. We don’t just owe it to future generations of New Zealanders to protect this special place – we owe it to
the rest of the world.
“Abandoning this proposal now is utterly shameful and shows a blatant disregard not only for our marine life, but for
the New Zealanders who rely on a healthy ocean for their livelihoods.
“New Zealand is a maritime nation and a thriving ocean is essential for our economy and wider wellbeing. It’s ironic
that a Government claiming to focus on driving export-growth would go so far out of its way to trash our international
reputation and put all this at risk,” she says.
Little to no commercial fishing has been undertaken in the Kermadec region by the New Zealand fleet, due mainly to its
remote distance making the effort uneconomic. However, foreign flagged vessels actively target tuna on the margins of
the Kermadec region, which is the outer reach of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
“Creating a Rangitāhua Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary is critical to our efforts to halt and reverse nature loss, and to
mitigate the impacts of our changing climate - the twin existential crises of our time. Actively protecting this region
from exploitation is also important for upholding the territorial sovereignty of New Zealand’s EEZ," says Dr
Kingdon-Bebb.
“Yet again this Government is siding with destructive industries like seabed mining and oil exploration and seeking to
plunder our natural resources for short-term profit.
“New Zealanders care deeply about our ocean and poll after poll has shown there’s strong public support for a sanctuary
in the Kermadec region. This is just the latest affront in this Government’s shameful war on nature. It’s embarrassing –
and it will not go unopposed by Kiwis.”