3.6 Future steps for the future of Biodiversity and a common statement for the conservation of New Zealand’s marine biodiversity
During the discussions concerning the identification of future steps for the assessment and conservation of biodiversity, the following actions were widely supported by all workshop participants: train and recruit more competent taxonomists; raise public/government awareness of marine environment and promote an ethic for its care; make greater use of geographic mapping techniques to identify areas of ecological importance; increase the amount of the marine environment scheduled for protection; develop and fund a national plan of marine exploration; effectively direct adequate and appropriate biological information to government science- funding agencies; appraise appropriate national authorities of the results of the present workshop; harness the passion that scientists and others have for the marine environment and translate it into action. The workshop participants’ statement on the state of knowledge for New Zealand’s marine biodiversity:
The workshop participants' statement on the state of knowledge for New Zealand's marine biodiversity:
We marine scientists of various specialisation, recognise New Zealand's oceanic environment and ecosystems as unique and highly regionalised, with a level of biodiversity of global significance.
A great deal remains unknown about New Zealand's marine environment; vast regions are unexplored, interactions between species and their environments are not understood, and we lack the expertise to recognise and document many of the components of the biota. Consequently, the capacity to use and manage marine resources, or even identify possible human impacts is limited.
If we New Zealanders are to live in a sustainable relationship with our oceanic environment and benefit from the use of the marine resources of our EEZ, we need more information. Our current lack of knowledge is alarming and does not represent a sound basis for reliable policy and management decisions.
We urge immediate action by the Government and other stakeholders to ensure the capacity of relevant institutions to address this situation.