New Zealand’s marine environment is more than 15 times larger than its terrestrial area, and our Exclusive Economic Zone is fourth largest in the world. However, only a small percentage of this environment is currently protected.
New Zealand aims to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas to protect a full range of marine habitats and ecosystems to effectively conserve marine biodiversity. The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (2000) goal includes having 10% of the marine environment in a network of Marine Protected Areas by 2010.