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Five new marine reserves in Otago will come into force next month, marking the first new marine reserves in Aotearoa in more than a decade.
The reserves will cover 308 square kilometres of Otago’s coastal marine area and are designed to protect marine habitats and species through full “no-take” protection.
The network has been given a new te reo Māori name, Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia, honouring Kāi Tahu connections to the moana and voyages of tūpuna across Te Waipounamu.
The name replaces the previous title, South-East Marine Protection Network, and pays homage to Te Rakihouia, son of the Waitaha ancestor and captain of Uruaokapuarangi (Uruao) waka Rākaihautū.
Kāi Tahu rangatira and Upoko of Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou Edward Ellison said the name carried deep meaning for iwi and their connection to the moana.
“The name Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia refers to the long wake or enduring ocean pathway of Te Rakihouia, son of the great explorer Rākaihautū and the first-known human to journey along and around the coastline of the South Island, conveying the enduring relationship between our people and the moana,” he said.
Ellison said the marine protection network strengthened the role of iwi in caring for the coastal environment.
“Having governance and management structures in place that recognise the rakatirataka and kaitiakitaka of Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki and Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou in our respective rohe will help ensure that decisions around the management of Te Au Roa reflect our customary practices and local knowledge of these coastal areas,” he said.
Department of Conservation (DOC) operations director Aaron Fleming said the partnership marked a new approach to marine protection in Aotearoa.
“Our partnership with Kāi Tahu means we’ll share decision-making and a new team of DOC and Kāi Tahu rangers will carry out day-to-day management and monitoring of the marine reserves,” he said.
“We see this as an opportunity to work together to improve conservation outcomes and enable these special marine ecosystems to flourish for the benefit of everyone,” he said.
Preparations for Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia are already underway, including mapping, signage and baseline environmental monitoring. A team of nine rangers is being recruited to support management of the network.
The boundaries of a sixth marine reserve - Te Umukōau - are being reconsidered following a legal challenge by the Otago Rock Lobster Industry Association and others involved in recent judicial review proceedings. The Minister of Conservation will make a final decision on the boundaries.
The reserves were gazetted on 28 May and will come into force on 1 July 2026.
‘A catalyst for further action’
The marine reserve network is the first new set of marine reserves to be established in Aotearoa in more than a decade. Conservation groups said it represented a long-awaited step for marine protection in a country where less than one per cent of the marine environment is fully protected in no-take reserves.
World Wide Fund for Nature New Zealand (WWF New Zealand) conservation impact manager Jamie Fowler said the five marine reserves represented a major step forward for ocean protection after years of delay and legal proceedings.
“For Otago’s wildlife, this will be game-changing,” she said.
“These protections will give some of our rarest and most threatened species the breathing space they desperately need and provide genuine safe havens for hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin), pakake (New Zealand sea lion), and tutumairekurai (Hector’s dolphin).”
She said the reserves will also protect key habitats, including kelp forests and bryozoan beds.
“Marine protection is incredibly hard to achieve in New Zealand, which makes this outcome even more significant,” she said.
“This is absolutely a moment to celebrate, but it must also be a catalyst for further action,” she said.
Fowler said New Zealand must work towards protecting at least 30 per cent of its ocean in “well-managed, Treaty-consistent protected areas”.
“If we are serious about reversing biodiversity loss, we must build on this momentum,” she said.
Independent conservation group Forest & Bird also welcomed the decision, saying it reflected more than a decade of sustained work initiated by ministers back in 2014.
Otago Southland regional conservation manager Chelsea McGaw said the reserves will help protect key species.
“These reserves can’t come soon enough, with hoiho at severe risk of local extinction on the New Zealand mainland,” she said.
Forest & Bird said the reserves covered just over four per cent of the south-east coast and left significant areas of habitat unprotected, including offshore regions such as the Catlins and the Hay Paddock.
It said New Zealand remained well below international marine protection targets, with less than one per cent of its marine environment fully protected in no-take reserves.
It said the milestone should be seen as “a starting point rather than the finish line”.
“We’ve taken an important step today. The opportunity is now to build on this great news and accelerate efforts to get to where we need to be,” McGaw said.
They are calling on all political parties to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to high levels of protection for 30 per cent of our oceans, through a network of “Tiriti-consistent and tikanga-led tools and approaches and new marine protected areas legislation”.
Nā Layla Bailey-McDowell nō RNZ
