EDS launches blueprint for durable oceans reform

The Environmental Defence Society has released its landmark report Pathway to Oceans Reform, setting out a practical programme to fix Aotearoa New Zealand’s broken oceans management system.

The report does more than catalogue problems. It sets out a clear, staged pathway for reform including:

• A National Oceans Strategy to provide an overarching vision and common direction for oceans management efforts

• A Marine Spatial Planning Framework to support local and regional integrated marine planning efforts

• The creation of an independent Oceans Commission to provide oversight, accountability and a ‘voice’ for the oceans

• A new Marine Protected Areas Act to provide a broader range of spatial protection tools