WWF calls for marine protection at heart of new EEZ laws, and moratorium on oil and gas exploration

WWF is calling for the Government to place marine protection at the heart of new laws governing the management of New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), announced today by Environment Minister Nick Smith at the Environmental Defense Society conference. The Minister stated the review of legislation was important as part of the process to open up the EEZ for further development.

"We welcome the Minister's decision to strengthen EEZ legislation, however, marine protection has to be an integral part of it, not an add on," said Chris Howe, WWF-New Zealand Executive Director.

"New Zealand's marine environment is ranked by WWF as one of the most significant areas of biodiversity on the planet, around half of the species in our oceans are unique to New Zealand. The lack of Government regulations mean New Zealand's oceans are currently wide open for industrial exploitation such as prospecting for oil and gas without consideration of environmental risks, so laws protecting our EEZ are absolutely critical."

"There are currently no powers for creating marine reserves in the EEZ and this is a fundamental gap in the legislation which is placing our oceans at risk. We urge the Minister to ensure that the Marine Reserves Bill, stalled since 2001, is part of the review."

WWF is calling for a national network of 'no-take' marine reserves, representative of each type of marine habitat, in order to safeguard life in our oceans.

The Environment Minister also announced today a review of New Zealand's ability to manage the risks of drilling in deep sea waters, commissioned in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, now the biggest in US history. The review will cover New Zealand's health, safety and environmental provisions around minerals activities such as deep sea drilling for oil and gas. WWF is calling for a moratorium on further oil and gas exploration in New Zealand waters at least until the review is complete.

"Whilst a review is welcome, the Government is clearly putting economic development before consideration of the risks to the environment in issuing a new permit for oil exploration to Petrobras, before the review is completed. This Government has been pushing for more oil and gas exploration for at least the last six months, and is only now committing to assessing the environmental risks," said WWF's Chris Howe.

"WWF believes there should be a moratorium granted on all new oil and gas exploration in New Zealand waters at least until the review is complete, and that efforts should be made to maximise recovery of oil and gas from existing fields ahead of opening up new fields. Oil exploration and use is an inherently polluting activity. As part of New Zealand's commitment to play its role in stopping dangerous climate change, the Government should be focused on reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, not growing it."

Notes to editors

. The new petroleum permit granted by Minister Gerry Brownlee was announced on
Monday, allowing Petrobras to explore the Raukumara Basin off the North Island's East Coast. The permit includes drilling one well within 60 months.
. Like the Petrobras permit, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, already estimated to have put 400 to 600 species potentially at risk, was a permit for exploration.
. In 2001, an oil platform - one of the biggest in the world - owned by Petrobras International, sank in the South Atlantic. Ten crew were killed and more than 1.5 million litres of oil onboard spilled into the ocean.
. Since 1940 there have been over 60 major spills with an accumulated amount of 1.7 billion gallons of oil spilled on land and sea.

ENDS

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