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Foreign Correspondant TV1 Friday


lduncan

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Created as a place for scientific study, the reserve has inspired its many visitors. Being able to swim amongst thousands of friendly fishes, has first created awareness, then awe, followed by support for saving the sea.

When the marine reserve was opened, education was never mentioned as a potential benefit. However, over time, as the environment around Auckland degraded further, schools chose to travel for two hours to find a place with marine life and clear water.

Feeding the fishes became the most popular activity inside the marine reserve, and reached problematic proportions. But stopping it altogether, created other problems.

Choosing the right size and shape of any marine reserve is critical to its later success. There are important lessons to be learnt.

the access road To cater for the increased amount of traffic to the beach, the Goat Island Road was upgraded, causing masses of mud to enter the marine reserve - yet nobody took action. Why?

The land forms an integral part with the sea, particularly where run-off is dominant. The steep agricultural land around the reserve has suddenly begun eroding, with devastating effects.

When a marine reserve is successful, the fish stocks inside build up to the extent that they become hard to resist for poachers. It just pays to fish inside. Read the story of the sunken car wrecks.

policing Local and visiting users are the best agents for policing the marine reserve but it can be annoying.

Amenities like parking, rubbish containers and toilets become more urgent as the reserve attracts more people. Marking the sea with buoys, moorings and markers is necessary.

The marine reserve protects scientific experiments, allowing scientists undisturbed study of the sea but recently, research became more and more politically focused. Monitoring is important for any marine reserve but it should focus on all species and whether the reserve's objectives are being met.

It could be argued that a marine reserve could run itself, but wherever people congregate, some form of management is needed. The centrally led management of the Goat Island reserve has shown that it leaves much to be desired.

*stolen from seafriends*

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