New Marine Protection Sites announced for New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf – home of the ACAP-listed Black Petrel

 New marine protection sites within the Hauraki Gulf

The Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill, recently accepted by the New Zealand Government, aims at protecting and restoring the marine environment of the gulf situated off Auckland on North Island.  A network of 19 new marine protection sites within the gulf includes two new marine reserves and 12 “high protection areas” (HPAs) to protect and restore marine habitats and ecosystems.

Two islands towards the outer edge of the Hauraki Gulf, Great Barrier and Little Barrier, between them support the global population of the Vulnerable Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni.  According to the Department of Conservation’s map (see above), a relatively large HPA abuts the north shore of the 3083-ha Little Barrier Island Nature Reserve, New Zealand’s first nature reserve, established in 1895.  The island is now introduced predator free, following the removal of 151 feral cats Felis catus from 1977 to 1980 and of Pacific Rats or Kiore Rattus exulans in 2004.  Click here to access the 2017 management plan for Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier.

A Black Petrel at sea off North Cape, New Zealand, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

The Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Act will come into force on 25 October 2025.

Read more details on the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 17 October 2025