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A
Marine Reserve is like a wet National Park! A
marine reserve is an area of the ocean and foreshore that is protected. All the living
things within the marine reserve area are protected, including their homes in the rocks,
sand and coral.
People are free to swim, snorkel, dive and boat within a marine reserve.
People are not allowed to disturb or take any living things from within a marine reserve,
except for scientific purposes, which has to be approved.
Marine reserves are open to the public, which means that everyone can visit marine
reserves and enjoy them! |
What does the dictionary say?
Marine = found in or relating to the sea.
Reserve = to keep back or set aside, especially for the future. An area set apart for
conservation. |
So, marine reserves protect our watery sea environments and the
animals living there.
But why would they need protecting?
People use the ocean heaps and this
use has increased....
- The number of fishing boats has increased, with some
of them using big nets, catching birds and dolphins, as well as too many fish.
- Big and small factories and people everywhere, are
dumping rubbish and pollutants into streams, which run into the ocean - over half the
pollution in the ocean comes from the land.
- Lots of people are building along the coastlines and
changing coastal habitats - clearing land may cause erosion.
- More people own boats and yachts. A great way to
enjoy the ocean but some people dump their rubbish overboard - that's not nice!
- There are a lot more people fishing from boats and
the beach, scuba diving and snorkeling - some people take home more seafood than they are
allowed.
- People go to the beach to swim, boogie board and
surf. Most care for the beach and ocean but some leave all of their picnic rubbish to blow
into the ocean!
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WOW! The coastlines and oceans really are busy - no wonder
it's important to have marine reserves to protect the marine life and coastal environment. |
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| Marine
Reserves.....are safe places for fish
and other sea creatures to live and breed. This is very important because more and more
people are catching fish and gathering shellfish. Fish such as snapper are becoming
scarce. In the Marine Reserve at Leigh, near Auckland, there are lots of big, breeding
snapper which means there are more snapper in the sea outside of the reserve too. Marine Reserves.....show us undisturbed places, the way the sea used to be
before people fished and gathered sea creatures. This helps us understand and compare what
we are doing in the rest of the sea.
Marine Reserves.....show us beautiful, unspoiled places where people can enjoy
looking at the wonderful variety of fish and crayfish, shellfish and sea weeds.
Marine Reserves.....are places where people can play and swim, dive or snorkel
and look at all the sea life, but they are not allowed to catch, hurt or take any of the
living things in the Marine Reserve.
Marine Reserves.....are places where the fish are not afraid of people!
Marine Reserves.....are places where the sea life dominates and
where people do no harm. Even if the rest of the sea had well managed fisheries and good
pollution control, marine reserves would still be needed to provide places where nature
rules and where we can enjoy seas teeming with marine life the way it was meant to be. |
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New Zealand
needs more Marine Reserves! |
About 33% (one third) of New Zealand's
land area has reserve or national park status - this means it is protected.
Only 4% of New Zealand's territorial sea (ocean/coastline) is protected by marine
reserves.
The Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve makes up over three quarters of the 4% total.
The Kermadec Islands are about 930 kilometres north-east of the Bay of Islands - that's
400 nautical miles, which is a long way. Can you find the Kermadec Islands on a map?
Less than 1% of New Zealand's coastline is protected by Marine Reserves, if you don't
count the Kermadec Islands. |
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How is an area chosen to become a marine
reserve?
In 1971 the government passed the Marine Reserves Act 1971.
The Act says that for an area of New Zealand's coastline and ocean to be considered for
marine reserve status it must contain:
"underwater scenery, natural features or marine life of such distinctive quality or
so typical or beautiful or unique that their continued preservation is in the national
interest."
In a Marine Reserve it
is.... |
Beautiful - educational - fun - interesting - unpolluted - full of marine
life! |
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Remember to leave
only footprints and sandcastles, and to take home happy memories.
Do not leave rubbish or remove anything from a Marine Reserve.
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There
are a lot of good reasons for having marine reserves....
Recreation: You can swim, snorkel and scuba dive in a marine reserve or
you might like to sit on the beach, build sandcastles or look at the interesting shells.
Education: marine reserves are great places to go on class trips. Because marine
reserves are protected areas people have not removed things so there is heaps to see and
learn about. Check out the rock pools!
Research: A marine reserve is an undisturbed natural environment, which
means that scientists are able to use marine reserves as living laboratories where they
can learn very important stuff about marine life.
Conservation: That's right, marine reserves protect all the marine plants and
animals, and the places where they live. Marine reserves conserve some of our wildlife and
wild places!
Commercial: Lots of people visit marine reserves to enjoy the beautiful beaches
and amazing marine life. This means that local business and tourist operators may benefit
from an increase in customers.
MARINE
RESERVES ARE GREAT ! |
Are you going to a marine reserve?
There are some important things
you need to know when you are visiting a marine reserve.... |
Who's looking after the
marine reserves?
Under the Marine Reserves Act 1971, the Department of
Conservation is responsible for caring for and managing marine reserves - this includes:
marking marine reserve boundaries, law enforcement, issuing scientific permits and
monitoring environmental changes. |
Where
are New Zealand's Marine Reserves?
Check out the MAP |
You can look after marine reserves too!
- When you are in a marine reserve remember to follow
the Department of Conservation's care code.
- Be sure not to break any marine
reserve laws. For example, do not feed the fish.
- If you see anyone harming marine life or destroying
parts of a marine reserve - CALL DOC! Don't let nasty people destroy the beautiful
things in the marine reserve.
- Have fun in marine reserves and tell other people
why marine reserves are so important.
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Ha,
Ha, Ha, Ha.....
* I wonder how much deeper the ocean
would be without sponges *
* Save the whales. Collect the whole set *
* What did one rock pool say to the other? Show us ya mussels! *
* Why did the whale cross the road? To get to the other tide * |
Below
is a quote from Dr Bill Ballantine. He is New Zealand's leading marine conservation
authority - he knows HEAPS about marine life and how important marine reserves are.
"Would your grandchildren
really object if you made too many marine reserves?
I doubt it."
What a cool thing to
say. It would be a good thing to ask politicians!
The Marine Reserves
information was written in November 1999. Updated April 2001. |
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