Address to Meeting of Auckland Conservation Board

Date: 26/6/03
By: Trish Rea

Madam chair, members of the board

Today I would like to talk about the increasing antipathy towards the concept of marine reserves. As the interface between DoC and the community it is very important, in our opinion, that you have a good understanding of the community’s mood.

The groundswell of opposition towards marine reserves is of concern. This mounting anger finds its roots in two key dynamics.
1. The lack of understanding of the “theory” of marine reserves, the need and the benefits promised.
2. The lack of decent process.

None of us like to be duped or enjoy the wool being pulled over our eyes. The tactics employed recently by those promoting marine reserves or marine parks can only be described, in most cases, as misrepresentation, if not outright contempt of the public’s point of view.

At the last meeting I talked to you about the process we had gone through with the Tiritiri Matangi proposal from NZ Underwater. Here we have a group wanting to have a marine reserve at Tiri. We, the public follow the non-statutory process as prescribed in the Marine Reserves Act. We asked NZ Underwater for a copy of their budget. After three months with constant reminders, it arrived yesterday. It is a quite pathetic document, obviously contrived for our benefit. A simple, “we don’t have a budget” statement would have been closer to the truth than this silly thing. We wait patiently for the budget for the Great Barrier proposal process,

The Great Barrier proposal is of such magnitude that we feel quite reasonable in expecting full disclosure of the Departments aspirations – up front. Here (CMS map) is an example of the public not being given the whole picture with which to make an informed decision. Do you think the residents of southern Barrier would agree to a marine reserve at the northern end of the island if they knew there was an ‘area of interest’ located near them? I think not. Much more effort needs to be invested in this process involving the public.

The need for a coordinated and integrated approach to marine protection in our area is paramount. Auckland City Council have come out quite clearly and stated they prefer the strategic approach and it wouldn’t take much persuading to have the other councils in our region to agree to the same. ARC seem keen on that approach and I think with input from the ACB, DoC, the Hauraki Gulf Forum, tangata whenua, the fishing industry and the various advocate organisations representing the fishing public (30%) we could go far, surprisingly quickly, towards achieving this all important understanding.

We all want protection of our seas and we want it there for our kids to enjoy. So much more can be achieved if we all go down the same track and not alienate people purely because our way is different to theirs. Let’s get the whole plan, work together and achieve something our kids will be proud of. That is, a sustainable and living marine environment. Thank you for your time.