People Helping Nature Podcast · Conservation Amplified

Less Than 1% Protected: The Truth About NZ’s Oceans (EP36 with Shaun Lee)

·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

44% of our marine species are endemic found nowhere else in the world

Anna and Callum open by framing the episode around marine conservation and the state of New Zealand’s oceans. Shaun Lee joins to talk through what protection really looks like in the sea. He says many people assume the country has far more marine protection than it does. The actual figure he gives is less than 1% of the EEZ protected to international high protection standards. He argues that most people do not really understand the health of the ocean. He also says the pressures on it are more layered than they seem from shore. The discussion then turns to the idea that the ocean often only needs to be left alone. Shaun uses that point to stress how much room there is for positive change. He describes the marine environment as an exciting place to work because restoration can still make a real difference. The conversation shifts into the history of loss. Shaun talks about over-extraction and how decline did not begin only with Europeans. He notes that middens and other cultural records show much richer marine life in the past. Those records act like libraries that help reveal what has changed over time. He references a 2015 study that looked at losses in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The numbers are severe. He cites losses of 67 percent of seabirds, 86 percent of sharks, and 97 percent of marine mammals. He speaks about how common it is for a dolphin or orca sighting to feel like the highlight of a summer. He then contrasts that peak experience with the damage people have done to those animals. The episode does not stay in the bleakest place. Shaun points to fur seals as an example of a species slowly returning after cultural attitudes and protections changed. He explains that there are still no breeding colonies in the area, but the population is coming back. He also talks about soft sediment habitats, which cover most of the seafloor and often get less attention than reefs. There, too, the losses have been huge. He says green-lipped mussels that once carpeted the gulf are now essentially gone from the area. The conversation keeps circling back to the fact that marine conservation is often out of sight and out of mind. That makes the work harder, but it also makes public education more important. By the end, Anna asks how listeners can get involved. Shaun points people to his own online work and to the Gulf Journal, where a big get involved button leads to a long list of groups working in and around the Hauraki Gulf. The episode closes on that practical note: if you want to help, there are real places to start.

As heard by us

A sober look at marine loss, protection gaps, and the hard work of recovery.

New Zealand's marine gap is the point here, and Sean Lee keeps it plain: public confidence in protection is far ahead of the protection that actually exists.

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Why you'd press play

You want the real state of New Zealand's oceans, not the comforting version.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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