The creation of the Ross Sea marine reserve is excellent news – credit where it is due to all those involved:
The creation of a new international marine reserve in the Ross Sea was made possible after Russia dropped objections following lobbying from New Zealand.
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Murray McCully, the New Zealand foreign minister, said the final deal involved concessions to Russia including alterations to the boundaries of the reserve and increased fishing quota outside the no-take zone. …
Now how about we take on the ecological disaster in our own waters?
NZ oceans deteriorating, marine wildlife threatened
New Zealand’s oceans, coasts and marine wildlife are deteriorating due to increased pressure from humans, and the government says the changes pose serious concerns.
The Ministry for the Environment has released an in-depth look at the state of the marine environment in collaboration with Statistics New Zealand.
Read the report Our Marine Environment 2016 here.
Ocean acidification and warming as a result of greenhouse gas emissions and the risk of extinction of most of our native marine birds and coastal degradation are the report’s top worries.
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According to the report more than one-third of New Zealand’s native species and subspecies of seabirds, more than half of shorebirds, and more than one-quarter of marine mammals – including albatrosses, penguins, herons, dolphins, and whales – are threatened with extinction.
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The marine economy contributes $4 billion to the country’s annual economic activity and the government says having healthy oceans is important.
Then the government should stop turning a blind eye to our freshwater and environmental problems, stop backing fraudulent carbon credits and get serious about climate change. There is no economy without the environment.
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