Marine guardians – A novel solution to improving our marine environment

Abstract

New Zealand’s coastal and marine ecosystems are in ecological trouble. In 2016 the Government reported on the state of our seas, as required by the Environmental Reporting Act 2015 (ERA). “Our marine environment 2016” identified serious and widespread issues with seabed habitat damage and destruction, numerous threatened seabird and marine mammals, and massive loss of topsoil into our coastal waters causing deterioration in water quality and ecosystem services.