NZ plans for South Pacific marine sanctuary around the Kermadecs

WELLINGTON – 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 about 1,000 kilometres off New Zealand’s northeast coast.

Announcing the plans at the United Nations in New York, 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 cover 15 per cent of New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone, an area twice the size of our landmass and 50 times the size of our largest national park in Fiordland.

“As well as being home to a wide range of marine species, the Kermadec region is one of the most geographically and geologically diverse areas in the word. It contains the world’s longest underwater volcanic arc and he second deepest ocean trench at 10 kilometres deep,” Key said.

New Zealand environment minister Nick Smith said all fishing and mineral exploitation would be banned in the area.

“What is unique about the Kermadecs is that it’s a full protection area in which there will be no fishing allowed at all and that makes it the largest completely protected area, to our knowledge, in the world,” he said.

“This is a pretty extraordinary area. We’re talking about ocean that is as deep as Everest is tall. There are 30 volcanoes of significant size through the trench.”

It is also some to six million seabirds of 39 different species, over 150 species of fish, 35 species of whales and dolphins, three species of endangered sea turtles and many other marine species like coals, shellfish and crabs unique to the area.

Smith said with that volcanic activity came areas rich in minerals including silver, copper and gold, and New Zealand had already turned down a prospecting application for Canadian company Nautilus.

“We’re saying ‘no, don’t proceed with the prospecting’, we don’t want them spending millions of dollars looking if honestly New Zealand is of the mind not to allow mining.”

The sanctuary will protect an area where marine scientists regularly discover new species.

Environmental 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,” WWF New Zealand chief executive Chris Howe said.

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

Matt Rand, director of the Pew Charitable Trust’s global ocean legacy campaign, welcomed Key’s announcement.

“New Zealand will create the gold standard of conservation areas in the Kermadecs, preserving one of the few relatively unspoiled areas of ocean on Earth,” he said.

“This commitment is an exciting step toward meeting global goals to safeguard at least 30% of the ocean through fully protected marine reserves.”