New Zealand to create massive marine sanctuary

AFP Yahoo News 29 Sep 15;

Wellington (AFP) - New Zealand has unveiled plans to create a South Pacific marine sanctuary the size of France, saying it would protect one of the world's most pristine ocean environments.

Prime Minister John Key said the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary would cover an area of 620,000 square kilometres (240,000 square miles) about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) off New Zealand's northeast coast.

Announcing the plans at the United Nations in New York on Monday, Key said the Kermadec area was home to thousands of important species, including whales, dolphins, seabirds and endangered turtles.

"(It) is one of the most geographically and geologically diverse areas in the world," he said in a statement.

"It contains the world's longest underwater volcanic arc and the second deepest ocean trench at 10 kilometres deep."

The sanctuary will prevent fishing and mineral exploitation in an area where scientists regularly discover new marine species.

Conservation groups applauded the move, saying it added to a network of protected areas in the Pacific that now covered more than 3.5 million square kilometres.

"We congratulate the government for taking decisive action to protect this incredibly special area from mining and fishing," World Wildlife Fund New Zealand chief executive Chris Howe said.

"This decision puts New Zealand back at the forefront of marine protection on the global stage."

- Globally important -

Scientists also applauded the decision to ban all forms of resource extraction from the marine zone, which is remote and largely unsurveyed or scientifically sampled.

"The Kermadec region is an exceptional place and is very much in need of protection before large-scale exploitation really commences," said Jonathan Gardner from Victoria University's school of biological sciences in Wellington.

"As a contribution to large scale marine conservation the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary is globally important."

The variation in the area, which spans from tropical to sub-tropical waters, means it boasts a high diversity of habitat types including active undersea volcanoes, ridges and the Kermadec Trench itself, said Malcolm Clark from New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

Some organisms are only found in that part of the world while others, such as whales, include it in their migration routes, he said.

"We are just beginning to understand the abundance of life there," said Bronwen Golder from the Pew environmental organisation.

"But we know that creating this marine sanctuary will safeguard rare habitats and species critical for healthy ecosystems throughout the South Pacific."

New Zealand's Environment Minister Nick Smith said oceans were the new frontier for environmental protection, making up 72 percent of the globe and home to half of the world's species, but with only two percent protected despite pressures from over-fishing, mining and pollution.

Conservation efforts are underway in the Pacific to create a network of marine parks across the region to ensure one of the world's last pristine ocean ecosystems is managed sustainably.

In 2012 the Cook Islands unveiled a 1,065 million square kilometre marine park while Kiribati and Tokelau have also declared huge protected zones.

New Zealand said it hoped to have legislation enacted in parliament to ensure the sanctuary in place by October 2016.


New Zealand to create giant South Pacific sanctuary, banning fishing and mining
Cecile Lefort PlanetArk 29 Sep 15;

Waters north of New Zealand are set to become one of the world's largest ocean sanctuaries, covering an area roughly the size of France, with a full ban on fishing and mining, New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said at the United Nations on Monday.

Called the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, the area covers 620,000 square kms (239,000 square miles) of ocean, and encompasses a string of undersea volcanoes and is home to endangered marine life including whales, dolphins and turtles.

The announcement surprised New Zealand's seafood export industry, worth NZ$1.4 billion ($882 million) a year, and will prevent mining firms gaining seabed prospecting rights.

"With no forewarning from government, the industry needs time to consider the full implications," said George Clement, chairman of industry body Seafood New Zealand.

He added the ban would also apply to tuna, the fourth largest seafood export, according to 2013 data.

The sanctuary legislation, tabled by the government for 2016, will also preclude all mining exploration and prospecting activities in the area.

Canadian firm Nautilus Minerals is awaiting a permit to prospect in the Kermadec area, while it is already working on digging up a massive sulphide deposit off Papua New Guinea.

Nautilus is one of many natural resource firms, including U.S.-based Neptune Minerals, U.S.-listed Odyssey Marine Exploration, Singapore-based OMS and New Zealand's Trans-Tasman Resources, racing to mine the ocean floor.

Along the Pacific Rim of Fire, vast beds of manganese nodules hold promise for economic powers like China and Japan. Other countries in the Pacific looking at underwater mining include Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

The Kermadec sanctuary announcement comes after efforts by Australia and New Zealand to establish the world's largest marine sanctuary off Antarctica were thwarted by Russia and China.

Other marine protected areas recently announced include the Australian Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve and the Pitcairn Islands Marine Reserve announced by the U.K.

(Reporting by Cecile Lefort; Editing by Michael Perry)