New Zealand to turn South Pacific region into giant marine reserve

New Zealand has announced its plans to create one of the largest marine protected areas in the world at the South Pacific Ocean. The area covers about 15 percent of the country’s exclusive economic zone that will fully be protected from fishing and mining.

The prime minister of New Zealand, John Key, said at the UN general assembly in New York that fishing, fossil fuel exploration and mining will be banned on the 620,000-sq km Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary. The prime minister described the sanctuary as "one of the most geographically and geologically diverse areas in the world."

The world’s longest chain of underwater volcanoes and one of the deepest ocean trenches are both lying on the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary that makes it geologically significant. The government also aims to protect the healthy marine life on the sanctuary, consisting of various species of whales, dolphins, seabirds and three of the world’s seven endangered sea turtle species.

"New Zealanders value our coasts and oceans, which are an important part of our culture, economy and environment and we are committed to managing them sustainably," Key said in a statement. Creating the sanctuary as protected area will support the New Zealand’s fisheries as well as its Pacific neighbours, to “help grow Pacific economies through the responsible management of their ocean resources.”

The Key government aims to pass legislation for the marine reserve in 2016. The sanctuary, according to Key, is twice the size of the New Zealand’s landmass, with a scale much larger than any of the current protected areas of the country.

Environmentalists have welcomed the plan to create the reserve. The Pew Environment Group, which works with several other groups to propose to protect the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, said that adding the area to the New Zealand's protection will expand its marine spaces from 0.5 percent to 15.5 percent.

However, some fishing and mining companies have been surprised with Key’s announcement. The chairman of Seafood New Zealand, George Clement, told Reuters that no forewarning from the government has been provided and that the industry needs time to analyse and consider the full implications of the proposed marine reserve.

But New Zealand’s environment minister, Nick Smith, quoted by the Guardian, says that it will always be important to protect the ocean despite the cost to the mining industry. “New Zealand needs to use its vast ocean resources for jobs and exports with industries like fishing, aquaculture, minerals and energy, but we also need to set aside special areas where nature comes first and marine life is fully protected,” he said.

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