Background
This measure relates to indicator 1.6.1 – Ecosystem representation and protection status.
DOC manages two main types of marine areas: marine reserves and marine mammal sanctuaries. Efforts are being made to expand the coverage of marine reserves as part of a marine protected area (MPA) network to ensure representative coverage of Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine habitats and ecosystems, while marine mammal sanctuaries are established to protect Aotearoa New Zealand’s whales, dolphins and seals.
Most of Aotearoa New Zealand’s 14 marine bioregions remain significantly under-represented in marine reserves.
What did we measure?
This measure reports on the area of Aotearoa New Zealand’s marine environment that is within marine reserves and sanctuaries to protect marine mammals. It is assessed in the context of (a) coastal marine biogeographic regions (‘marine bioregions’) and (b) marine areas within the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea limit. It does not include marine areas managed by DOC under other land status types that are not specific to the marine environment (nature reserves, wildlife reserves and other public conservation land) or MPAs that are not managed by DOC.
What did we find?
- Aotearoa New Zealand currently has 44 marine reserves covering approximately 17,178 km², These cover 9.5% of the area inside the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea limit (Table 3). Almost all of this area (96.4% or 16,558 km²) lies within 2 of Aotearoa New Zealand’s 14 marine bioregions: the ecologically important marine areas of the offshore Kermadec Islands and Subantarctic Islands. The remaining 3.6% (620 km²) occurs around New Zealand’s mainland coasts. Thus, most marine bioregions remain significantly under-represented in marine reserves (Table 1).
- Aotearoa New Zealand currently has nine sanctuaries to protect marine mammals (Table 2 & Figure 1). Five sanctuaries around mainland Aotearoa New Zealand have primarily been established to help protect Hector’s and Māui dolphins, while the Auckland Islands sanctuary mainly aims to protect tohorā / southern right whales and rāpoka / New Zealand sea lions. Two sanctuaries have been established near Kaikōura for the protection of whales and a kekeno / New Zealand fur seal breeding colony. Most recently, a sanctuary has been established in the Bay of Islands to protect marine mammals, primarily terehu / bottlenose dolphins.
- The West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary and Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary have been significantly extended (Table 2). The Auckland Islands Marine Mammal Sanctuary has been extended to cover terrestrial portion of the Auckland islands.
- No new marine reserves were established in 2022/23 (Figure 1)
Figure 1: Marine reserves and sanctuaries to protect marine mammals managed by DOC, as at 1 July 2023.
| Coastal Biogeographic region | Area of biogeographic region (km²) | Total area of marine reserves (km²) | Proportion of biogeographic region in marine reserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kermadec Islands | 7,181 | 7,155 | 99.6% |
| Three Kings | 2,256 | 0 | 0.0% |
| North Eastern | 38,100 | 83 | 0.2% |
| Eastern North Island | 11,621 | 29 | 0.2% |
| Western North Island | 14,572 | 32 | 0.2% |
| North Cook Strait | 13,656 | 30 | 0.2% |
| South Cook Strait | 12,250 | 38 | 0.3% |
| East Coast South Island | 11,081 | 111 | 1.0% |
| West Coast South Island | 13,112 | 172 | 1.3% |
| Fiordland | 10,247 | 103 | 1.0% |
| Southern South Island | 20,964 | 11 | 0.1% |
| Chatham Islands | 12,118 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Snares Island | 2,155 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Subantarctic Islands | 11,939 | 9,403 | 78.8% |
| Area outside of Biogeographic region | 0 | 11 | NA |
- Kermadec Islands should be reported as 100% protected as this is what is reflected in legislation, however a spatial error leads to under reporting of this.
| Sanctuaries to protect marine mammals | Year gazetted | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|
| Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 1988 | 14,302.37 |
| Auckland Islands Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 1993 | 5,628.13 |
| Te Waewae Bay Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 2008 | 348.84 |
| Clifford and Cloudy Bay Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 2008 | 1,396.16 |
| Catlins Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 2008 | 653.88 |
| West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 2008 | 20,511.58 |
| Ōhau New Zealand Fur Seal Sanctuary | 2014 | 0.04 |
| Te Rohe o Te Whānau Puha Kaikōura Whale Sanctuary | 2014 | 4,690.55 |
| Te Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands) Marine Mammal Sanctuary | 2021 | 279.79 |
| Total area (km²) | Percentage of NZ Territorial Sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Marine reserves | 17,178 | 9.5% |
| Sanctuaries to protect marine mammals | 47,811 | 21.6% |
| Combined coverage of marine reserves and sanctuaries to protect marine mammals (Overlapping areas removed) | 59,829 | 28.2% |
Data quality
This measure complies with the data quality guidelines used in New Zealand’s Environmental Reporting Series.
All area calculations were sourced from DOC’s National Property and Land Information System (NaPALIS). These were based on the spatial boundaries held within Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) Land Online datasets and calculated using the NZTM coordinate system. The Geographical Information System (GIS) area may differ greatly from the legal area stated in the survey office plan, although the boundaries and vertices will be in the same location. This is because the spatial boundaries were digitised from the original record sheets and transformed through multiple projections. They may also change with future transformations.
Glossary of terms
Coastal marine biogeographic regions (or ‘marine bioregions’) are areas that are defined according to patterns of ecological and physical characteristics in the seascape. Biogeographic regions form the basis of MPA nearshore planning in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of sea or ocean. MPAs restrict human activity for conservation purposes, typically to protect natural or cultural resources, but the strict definition of ‘MPA’ can vary. This report addresses only marine reserves and marine mammal sanctuaries, which are the main marine areas managed by DOC.
NaPALIS or National Property and Land Information System is DOC’s GIS system.
Territorial Sea is an area of water not exceeding 12 nautical miles in width which is measured seaward from the territorial sea baseline. The territorial sea baseline is the low-water mark along the coast of Aotearoa New Zealand, including the coast of all islands.