Media release

Risking our most endangered species for fossil fuels

New permits for oil and gas exploration include the habitat of the country’s rarest species—the Maui dolphin. Seismic testing is disruptive and will displace Maui dolphins and other endangered species—meaning the Government needs to act now to implement complete protection of Maui dolphin habitat with no seismic testing or seabed mining and enable marine protection throughout our entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

There are only 55 Maui dolphins left in the world and the New Zealand Endangered Species Foundation this year classified it as our rarest species. And yet we continue to do nothing.

Instead, two of the nine permits for oil exploration announced by the Government on Wednesday overlap known Maui dolphin habitat—which Waitakere Ranges Protection Society (WRPS) President John Edgar ONZM says is unacceptable. “We need to be creating complete protection for the Maui’s dolphin across its full habitat, not risking it through oil prospecting”.

And this announcement comes just after New Zealand has signed up to the largest climate change agreement in history—no wonder we kept collecting Fossil of the Day Awards.

And it didn’t stop there. Minister for Energy and Resources Simon Bridges announced at the press conference that the long awaited marine protection legislation discussion document will only consider the territorial seas, not the full EEZ. “It is unfathomable that the discussion document will only consider 5% of our seas for marine protection” says Edgar. “Wildlife doesn’t stop at an invisible boundary so we need to consider all our oceans and protect our unique biodiversity with more marine reserves, especially in unique areas like the Auckland west coast”.

The WRPS calls on the Government to increase protection for the Maui’s dolphin and include the full EEZ in the marine protection legislation.

ENDS

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