Community presenting to Auckland Council on how to stop Auckland marine reserve crisis

Monday, 9 July 2018

For immediate use

Long Bay Okura Great Park Society

Auckland community groups are calling on the Auckland Council for greater protection to the Long Bay Okura Marine Reserve, which they say is being
suffocated to death by sediment from land development activities in the region.

“Each time it rains we see more and more silt spewed into the Marine Reserve, suffocating the life there. We are witnessing the gradual death of the
Hauraki Gulf,” spokesperson for the Long Bay Okura Great Park Society, Fiona McLaughlin says.

“Our Councillors have an opportunity to take a stand against this devastation, to make a difference to the future of this Auckland treasure and the
endangered species that live there.”

The Long Bay Okura Great Park Society and associated environmental groups will be presenting to the Auckland Council’s Environment and Community Committee
meeting at 9:10am on Tuesday, 10 July at the Auckland Town Hall.

Members of the local community, supporters from around the country and representatives from large groups such as Forest and Bird, Sea Shepherds and
Greenpeace will also be attending to show their support.

The Society have enlisted the help of marine experts who have conducted studies into the sedimentation of the Marine Reserve, analysed the Ministry
for Primary Industry’s report on the mass shellfish deaths in March, and reviewed the reports of Auckland Council’s inspectors and developers’ environmental monitoring reports.

They say the resulting evidence is “horrifying and damning”.

Sediment is having a severe and rapidly-increasing impact on the health of the Marine Reserve. Soil from development sites and earthworks is washed
off land in the catchments surrounding the Reserve and deposited on the seabed where it is smothering marine life.

“Soon the Marine Reserve will become a barren underwater wasteland, if nothing is done,” Ms McLaughlin says.

The meeting is open to the public and the Society welcomes anyone interested in protecting our oceans to attend this event.

ENDS

© Scoop Media