Posted on 29-1-2003

NZ Marine Reserve Safeguards Southern Islands

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, January 27, 2003 (ENS) - The Auckland Islands
Marine Reserve is closer to becoming a reality now that the application of
a New Zealand government agency for this protected status has been
approved. The Aucklands are subantarctic islands south of New Zealand that
offer a haven for marine mammals and sea birds.

The Department of Conservation application seeks to establish a 484,000
hectare (1,869 square mile) marine reserve encompassing the territorial sea
and all internal waters surrounding the Auckland Islands out to the 12 mile
territorial boundary. It will become New Zealand's second largest marine
reserve, safeguarding the main breeding ground for the threatened Hooker's
sea lion, southern right whale, and yellow-eyed penguin.

Birdwatchers who visit these remote islands will see black, grey-faced and
Cook's petrels, Buller's shearwaters, blue penguins, Australasian gannets,
and Arctic skua. Whalewatchers will find Bryde's whales, common and
bottlenose dolphins and orcas.

The country's primary conservation organization, the Royal Forest and Bird
Protection Society, known Forest and Bird, welcomed the government's
approval of the marine reserve application. The protected area includes all
the waters now in the Auckland Islands' Marine Mammal Sanctuary, and
overlaps with other protected designations, the group observed. "The
approval of this marine reserve also protects the part of the New Zealand
Subantarctic World Heritage Area that surrounds the Auckland Islands," said
Barry Weeber, Forest and Bird's senior conservation officer.

The application by Director-General of Conservation Hugh Logan says a
Auckland Islands Marine Reserve aims to begin the establishment of a marine
reserve network that would represent the full range of habitats and
ecosystems found in New Zealand's marine environment when fully developed.
"In a region where all living things are dependent on the sea, this would
allow for a holistic approach to conservation management integrating both
the terrestrial and marine environments. The establishment of this marine
reserve is in the national interest and is of international scientific
significance," the department's application says.

Forest and Bird will be seeking clarification of the government's
intentions with regard to its proposal for the Kaikoura marine reserve off
the northeast coast of New Zealand's South Island. The group first applied
for this status over 10 years ago, but its application has been ignored by
every minister of conservation since then.

The group would like to see all the existing applications for marine
reserves approved quickly. A Marine Reserves Bill now before parliament
would establish a set timetable to process marine reserve applications.
Forest and Bird is urging the government to extend reserve status to other
marine areas within the UNESCO World Heritage Area, listed in 1998. "The
World Heritage Area covers Auckland, Snares, Campbell, Antipodes and Bounty
Islands and their surrounding seas out to 12 nautical miles and recognizes
that these marine areas have international significance," says Weeber.
"Protecting these areas as marine reserves would give these areas the legal
recognition they deserve." The conservation organization says Waiheke
Island, Stewart Island, Wellington South Coast, north Nelson, and
Paraninihi are also worthy of legal protection.

The Auckland Islands have the richest flora of all the subantarctic islands
- 233 taxa have been recorded, of which 196 are native. The islands also
have a long history of introduced species. Rabbits, goats, cattle, cats,
rats, mice and pigs placed on the islands in the early 1800s have been
destructive to the natural ecosystem. Sea lion pups fall into the remains
of rabbit warrens, and albatross breeding grounds are destroyed by pigs. As
an albatross takes only one mate in a lifetime, the entire species suffers.

Rabbits and cattle were eradicated by the Department of Conservation in
1990, and pigs will eradicated as soon as a viable method becomes available.