The reserves will contribute over 300km2 of new marine protection, safeguarding some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s rarest and most iconic marine ecosystems and species.

The reserves were approved by the previous Minister of Conservation, in October 2023, as the first phase of a wider network of marine protection and kelp restoration areas. But their implementation was delayed after the Otago Rock Lobster Industry Association (ORLIA) judicially reviewed the Minister’s decision.

The High Court has now approved an order resolving ORLIA’s challenge by consent.

“EDS has been actively engaged in settlement negotiations for many months and we are very pleased with the outcome,” says EDS Chief Operating Officer Shay Schlaepfer.

“The boundary of one of the reserves, the Te Umukōau Marine Reserve, will undergo limited reconsideration following targeted consultation. Importantly, the other five marine reserves can now be established without delay.

“EDS recently completed a case study of the Otago Coast (available here) and found that Otago’s extraordinary marine biodiversity is under increasing pressure. Endemic taonga species like hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin), pakake (New Zealand sea lion) and tutumairekurai (Hector’s dolphin,) which are deeply woven into Otago’s identity and integral to a thriving wildlife tourism economy, are dependent on maintaining healthy marine ecosystems.

“The new reserves will protect important habitat for these species, as well as ecologically significant and highly productive estuarine and tidal lagoons, rocky reefs, offshore canyons, giant kelp forests and deepwater lace coral thickets, which are increasingly threatened by a combination of fishing, sedimentation and climate change impacts.

“This latest network of marine reserves comes hot on the heels of new High Protection Areas in the Hauraki Gulf. Marine protection is incredibly hard to achieve, so these substantial gains which have been in the works for over a decade, are fantastic to see.

“The outcome is a positive step, but we must keep up the momentum. We need to do much more to have 30% of our marine environment effectively conserved in ecologically representative protected areas by 2030. EDS urges Ministers to now progress work on implementing the wider network of southern marine type 2 (seafloor protection) and kelp protection areas, as shown in the map below,” concluded Ms Schlaepfer.

EDS gives grateful thanks to Barrister Andrew Beatson for his pro bono legal representation through the negotiation process.

Further information about the new reserves is available here.