New Zealand is constructing one of the earth’s biggest fully protected ocean sanctuaries, and it is considered twice the size of the nation itself. The announcement was made by the country’s prime minister on Monday, September 28.
It’s an area double the size of New Zealand’s land mass, and 50 times the size of the country’s largest national park. It is truly a unique place and we wish to keep it that way, Prime Minister John Key claimed in the Nations summit on Monday.
The 620,000 square kilometre (about 240,000 square miles) ocean sanctuary is situated in the Kermadec area, close to the northeast side of New Zealand. The area is 35 times larger than the current marine reserve in the country, which also comprises the world’s longest chain of submerged volcanoes and the second deepest ocean trench, government officials stated.
The area is also home to numerous endangered sea turtle species, and serves as a vital breeding and feeding ground for seabirds, whales and dolphins.
The new sanctuary will add itself to the ranks of similar sanctuaries in the area, counting the Coral Sea Marine Sanctuary, alongside the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef has been registered by UNESCO a World Heritage Site since 1981. The Great Barrier Reef accommodates more than 400 types of coral and is also considered a breeding ground for humpback whales, which were formerly listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as an endangered species. The species is currently reported to have rebounded from the face of extinction.
Marine sanctuaries are usually considered profitable as they are able to spawn recurring revenue from sustainable tourism - in a similar manner where photographs of land animals in secured parks do. The Guardian reports that the new Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will stretch its boundary to approximately 15 percent of New Zealand’s economic area that takes in part of the Coral Sea.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) informed that since the Coral Sea is located away from land, it never felt the same pressure of pollution and over-fishing that have ensued other, identical wild marine areas.
The Coral Sea which envelops a region 3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef, was never protected on this scale until this new ocean sanctuary. Not only will it be a home to some exclusive species – such as the hammerhead shark - but the sanctuary will also be home to rare geological formations as well.
The ocean’s primary threats originates from illicit fishing and the abuse of resources, as governments and corporations searches more broadly for fuel sources.
Steve Smith
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