Marine & coastal

In this section:

Marine protected areas
- Marine parks

Hauraki Gulf Marine Park

Significance

Rangitoto and Motutapu islands, with
the Noises group of islands in the
foreground

The Hauraki Gulf has a natural richness, environmental quality, biological diversity and landscape that make it outstanding and distinctive within New Zealand. For nearly 1000 years it has been a focal point for human activity and home to generations of residents. Today, its hinterland contains the most intensively developed parts of New Zealand -- metropolitan Auckland and the Hauraki-Piako lowlands. The Gulf itself is one of the lifelines of commerce in New Zealand, serving the Port of Auckland and a significant fishing and transport industry. It also provides outstanding recreation opportunities for residents and visitors.

The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act

By establishing some overall objectives for the Gulf, it's islands and catchments, the Act achieves integrated management across land and sea, so that the effects of urban and rural land use on the Gulf are given proper attention and the life supporting capacity of the Gulf is protected. The Act provides for integrated management of the Gulf across 21 statutes including the Resource Management Act, Conservation Act and Fisheries Act.

The Hauraki Gulf Forum integrates management of the Gulf across the boundaries of statutes and districts, through co-operation and better communication. It promotes the conservation and sustainable management of the natural, historic and physical resources of the Hauraki Gulf for the benefit and enjoyment of the people and communities of the Hauraki Gulf and New Zealand. Forum members include representatives of all local authorities adjoining the Gulf or its catchments, representatives of the Ministers of Conservation, Fisheries and Maori Affairs, together with 6 representatives from iwi. The Act requires the Forum to produce a 'State of the Environment Report.'

What does the Act not do?

The new HGMP Act does not:

Create new layers of bureaucracy -- it should make existing systems more efficient and effective. The Forum is not a management agency for the Park.
Change any statutory functions -- the Ministry of Fisheries management of fisheries will remain, as will DOC's responsibilities for reserves, conservation areas and the seabed. Local authority responsibilities for the management of reserves and the Resource Management Act remain unchanged.
Affect private property rights.
Affect present or future claims by Maori to the Waitangi Tribunal or Maori Land Court.
Affect commercial fishing, recreational fishing and customary fishing rights, except that in determining sustainability measures for the Gulf, the Minister of Fisheries will have to take into account the objectives of the Act.

Area

Map of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park
(larger image, JPG 96K)

The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park covers the Hauraki Gulf, Waitemata Harbour, Firth of Thames and the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, and includes well known areas of land such as Little Barrier Island, the Mokohinau Islands, more than half of Great Barrier Island, Cuvier Island, Mansion House on Kawau Island, North Head Historic Reserve, Rangitoto Island, Motutapu Island, Mount Moehau, the four marine reserves in the area and the internationally recognised wetland at the Firth of Thames.

The marine park protects in perpetuity the natural and historic features of the Gulf that are of national and international importance for their quality and the presence of wildlife and plants not found anywhere else in the world. The Park consists only of public land -- reserves and conservation areas administered by the Department of Conservation, and the foreshore and seabed and the sea. Local authorities can add their reserves to the Park while retaining ownership and control, and protected private or Maori land can be included in the Park at the owner's request.