NZ
Biodiversity Strategy - Coastal and Marine
Theme
Three - Part Three
Action Plan
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Action
Plan
[32]
Actions shown in bold are priority actions (see Part
Four)
Objective 3.1 Improving
our knowledge of coastal and marine ecosystems
Substantially increase our
knowledge of coastal and marine ecosystems and the effects of human
activities on them.
Actions:
- Improve our knowledge of marine species, including taxonomy,
distribution, habitat requirements, and the threats to species.
Key players: FRST*, MoRST,
Mfish, DoC, RCs, NIWA, research providers, museums, iwi/hapu [33]
- Survey, assess, and map habitats and ecosystems important for
indigenous biodiversity and develop an agreed bioregional classification
system [34].
Key players: MfE*, DoC*,
LINZ, Mfish, NIWA, MSA, RCs, museums, fishing industry, iwi/hapu
- Identify the uniqueness, representativeness, and importance
of the biodiversity of New Zealand's coastal and marine ecosystems.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish*,
MfE, NIWA, RCs, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Identify, assess, map and rank the threats to New Zealand's
coastal and marine biodiversity.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish*,
MfE*, MSA, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Develop an environmental monitoring system to provide information
and a spatial understanding of: the status of marine species;
fish stocks; habitats important for indigenous biodiversity; marine
environmental health; threats to biodiversity; and the effectiveness
of measures to avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse effects of
activities on marine biodiversity. Ensure that this information
is readily accessible to all interested groups.
Key players: MfE*, Mfish*,
DoC, RCs, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Promote individual and community awareness of the effects of
activities on marine biodiversity, and the opportunities and responsibilities
to protect and maintain habitats and ecosystems of importance
to biodiversity.
Key players: Mfish*,
DoC*, RCs, resource users, training institutes, iwi/hapu
[33] See
key
to key players.
[34]
Bioregional classification is based on a combination
of biological, geographical and social or management criteria.
* Government lead
TOP
Objective 3.2 Coordinated
marine management
Develop processes for a marine
management that enable decision makers to consider whole marine
ecosystems.
Actions:
- Clarify and agree on comprehensive government policy objectives
for marine biodiversity management, considering all stakeholder
and public interests. Define agency responsibilities, especially
for areas outside of the 12 nautical mile limit, and revise these
if necessary [35].
Key players: DPMC*, MfE,
MFAT, Mfish, DoC, LAs, LINZ
- Advocate for the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity in areas subject to international jurisdiction, including
the Ross Dependency and other Antarctic areas.
Key players: MfE*, Mfish,
MFAT, MOT, DoC, DPMC
[35]
This action addresses a range of marine environment management
issues of which biodiversity is only one component.
* Government lead
Objective 3.3 Sustainable
coastal management
Protect biodiversity in coastal
waters from the adverse effects of human activities on land and
in the coastal zone.
Actions:
- As part of the review of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement
(NZCPS), assess its effectiveness, and that of regional coastal
plans, in protecting marine biodiversity, and recommend changes
accordingly [36].
Key players: DoC*, MfE,
LAs, iwi/hapu, community groups
- Expand programmes to mitigate the adverse effects of land use
on coastal biodiversity, and incorporate marine biodiversity priorities
into programmes for sustainable land use, including the Sustainable
Land Management Strategy, National Agenda for Sustainable Water
Management (NASWM), and related strategies.
Key players: MfE*, MAF,
DoC, LAs, iwi/hapu, resource users
- Maintain or restore the biodiversity of priority sites in the
coastal environment.
Key players: DoC*, MfE,
LAs, resource users, iwi/hapu, community groups, NGOs
[36]
There is also a need for the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement
to be consistent with any future national policy statement on biodiversity
(see Actions 1.1d and 2.1g).
* Government lead
TOP
Objective 3.4 Sustainable
marine resource use practices
Protect biodiversity in coastal
and marine waters from the adverse effects of fishing and other
coastal and marine resource uses.
Actions:
- Ensure implementation of the purpose and principles of the Fisheries
Act 1996, including programmes to sustain or restore harvested
species and associated and dependent species to ecologically sustainable
levels, and integrate marine biodiversity protection priorities
into programmes for sustainable fisheries use, such as fisheries
plans, using an ecosystem approach.
Key players: Mfish*, MfE,
DoC, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Identify the coastal and marine species and habitats most sensitive
to harvesting and other disturbances and put in place measures
to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects from commercial,
recreational and Maori customary fishing activities.
Key players: Mfish*, DoC,
RCs, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, research providers, NGOs
- In the absence of, or uncertainty about, information required
for the sustainable use of marine resources, apply the precautionary
principle [37] when setting sustainability
measures for fishing or setting controls for other coastal and
marine uses [38].
Key players: Mfish*, RCs,
resource users, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Improve the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of fishing
and other marine and coastal resource use, and integrate these
EIA into fisheries decision making processes (including sustainability
measures and fisheries plans) and other marine management processes.
Key players: Mfish*, RCs,
fishing industry, coastal resource users, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse impacts of human activities
(such as marine transport and mining) on marine biodiversity and
develop habitat restoration programmes where appropriate.
Key players: DoC*, MSA*,
RCs, research providers, coastal resource users, iwi/hapu, NGOs
[37]
See Principle 12 in Part Two.
[38]
This requirement is included in section 10 of the Fisheries
Act 1996.
* Government lead
Objective 3.5 Managing
marine biosecurity risks
Develop an integrated system
to identify biosecurity risks to marine biodiversity from exotic
organisms and establish appropriate management responses to prevent
and reduce these risks and to minimise their impacts.
Actions:
- Enhance border control to prevent harmful species and diseases
establishing and being spread within New Zealand's marine environment
(by practices such as discharge of ballast water and the de-fouling
of ship hulls).
Key players: Mfish*, MAF,
DoC, MfE, Biosecurity Council, RCs, fishing and marine industry,
iwi/ hapu
- Determine responsibilities for the management of established
marine pests so that appropriate measures (including preparing
and implementing pest management strategies under the Biosecurity
Act 1996) can be undertaken promptly and efficiently.
Key players: Mfish*, DoC,
RCs, MAF
- Identify the distribution of exotic species and assess the actual
and potential impacts of these on marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
Key players: Mfish*, DoC,
RCs, NIWA
- Increase pest control and management efforts to levels congruent
with national biodiversity goals and develop new technologies
and techniques to combat existing and emergent threats to marine
biodiversity from marine pests.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish*,
RCs, fishing and aquaculture industry, iwi/hapu, boat users
TOP
Objective 3.6 Protecting
marine habitats and ecosystems
Protect a full range of natural
marine habitats and ecosystems to effectively conserve marine biodiversity,
using a range of appropriate mechanisms, including legal protection.
Actions:
- Develop and implement a strategy for establishing a network
of areas that protect marine biodiversity, including marine reserves,
world heritage sites, and other coastal and marine management
tools such as mataitai and taiapure areas, marine area closures,
seasonal closures and area closures to certain fishing methods.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish*,
TPK, RCs, iwi/hapu, fishing industry, NGOs
- Achieve a target of protecting 10 percent of New Zealand's marine
environment by 2010 in view of establishing a network of representative
protected marine areas.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish,
TPK, RCs, iwi/hapu, fishing industry, NGOs
- Review the Marine Reserves Act 1971 to better provide for the
protection of marine biodiversity, including extending its jurisdiction
to protect marine biodiversity within and beyond the 12 mile limit.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish,
MFAT, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Promote and encourage individual and community initiatives to
protect, maintain and restore habitats and ecosystems that are
important for marine biodiversity.
Key players: DoC*, MfE,
RCs, Mfish, iwi/hapu, fishing industry, coastal resource users,
NGOs
3.7 Threatened marine
and coastal species management
Protect and enhance populations
of marine and coastal species threatened with extinction, and prevent
additional species and ecological communities from becoming threatened.
Actions:
- Review the threatened species priority setting systems and extend
them to assess coastal and marine species.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish,
RCs, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Identify and protect threatened species and their key habitats.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish,
RCs, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Implement recovery plans and population management plans for
those threatened marine species ranked as high priority.
Key players: DoC*, Mfish,
LAs, fishing industry, iwi/hapu, NGOs
- Accede to the Convention on Migratory Species (the Bonn Convention)
to provide an international framework for New Zealand's participation
in protecting migratory and widely ranging species such as albatross.
Key players: DoC*, MFAT,
NGOs
*Government lead
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