WWF Shining a spotlight on the biodiversity of ... - MarineNZ.org.nz

are a focus for conservation efforts because
“they harbour the most outstanding and
representative examples of the world’s
diverse ecosystems” (Olson et al. 2000:1).
Ecoregion conservation emphasises not only
expansion of the geographic areas in need of
consideration, but also the temporal horizon
for planning, and engagement with a wide
range of stakeholders. The methodology
applied in selecting the Global 200 is
outlined in Appendix 2.
Ecoregional planning embraces an
ecosystem-based approach to management,
which requires the ability and authority
to plan in accordance with ecological
processes and systems. Both ecoregionbased
conservation and the ecosystembased
approach anticipate, plan, and act
beyond political boundaries. Even in
ecoregions that have a well-developed
government infrastructure for conservation
and sustainable use of the marine
environment, responsibility for various
marine management issues is often spread
across departments with different, and
sometimes conflicting, mandates. As a result,
co-ordination challenges continuously arise
for managing competing uses of the marine
environment.
Planning at the ecoregion scale presents
new conservation opportunities that might
be neglected by approaches constrained by
political units. At the ecoregional scale:
• Patterns of biodiversity can be
contemplated along spatial and temporal
parameters that reflect ecosystem
processes rather than legal or jurisdictional
boundaries and timelines;
Seahorse, Fiordland
• Participants in the process have the
opportunity to exchange ideas independent
of political and funding considerations;
• Resources for conservation can be drawn
from a wide range of stakeholders at
various levels; and
• Socio-economic issues that cross borders,
such as international demand for a
particular commodity, can be addressed.
<strong>WWF</strong>-New Zealand has initiated ecoregion
conservation in the hope of realising new
conservation opportunities in New Zealand’s
marine environment.
©2004 DOC, Te Papa Atawhai
1.4 The New Zealand Marine
Ecoregion
The marine environment of New Zealand
was one of three Global 200 ecoregions
selected among the temperate shelf and
seas of the Southern Ocean 2 . The physical
environment of New Zealand is best
described as a large bathymetric platform
where the Pacific and Indo-Australian
plates collide. New Zealand intersects the
general west to east flow of the subtropical
and subantarctic surface waters, deflecting
currents either northward or southward
off the west coast, and creating permanent
eddies off the east coast of the North Island.
The Subtropical Front is the circumpolar
boundary between the warm, nutrient-poor,
and salty waters of the subtropics and the
cold, nutrient rich, and less saline water
of the subantarctic. To the west of New
Zealand, the Subtropical Front generally lies
at Fiordland’s latitude, while to the east it
follows the Chatham Rise.
The Deep Western Boundary Current is
another major current that influences the
region. It sweeps along New Zealand’s
south-east continental margin, flowing below
2000m depth, in consort with the overlying
Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)
2
Other southern ocean ecoregions of the temperate
shelf and seas habitat type are the Patagonian
Southwest Atlantic and the Southern Australia
Marine (Olsen et al. 2000).
BIODIVERSITY – NEW ZEALAND’S MARINE ECOREGION ■ 7