It’s 20 years since the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, New Zealand’s largest national park, was established. To coincide with that anniversary, the Hauraki Gulf Forum recently released its State of our Gulf 2020 report. It shows that, although some good work has been done, the Gulf is under serious stress due to overfishing, sedimentation, climate change and the emerging threat of plastic pollution. Many species are dwindling in numbers, or are not returning. Entire areas of the Gulf are losing the life they have known for millennia
The warnings are dire. We all need to take action now.
We’ll show you what you can do on Thursday 26 March at Auckland’s Takutai Square (near Britomart). The Gift to our Gulf birthday party is a free event we’ve organised to mark the 20th anniversary of the marine park.
Come along during your lunch hour (anytime from 11am to 3pm) and find out how you can show the Gulf some love by making small changes at work and home. Think of those actions as your gift to the Gulf. We know you’ll have plenty of ideas to share, too. Here are a few to get you started:
- Avoid buying products with plastic packaging.
- Encourage your workplace to install litter traps in its stormwater drains to prevent rubbish entering the sea.
- Use the car less – cycle, walk, scooter or use public transport instead, to cut down on toxic metals washing into our drains and out to sea.
- Ask for low copper brake pads when they need replacing on your car. Again this will reduce the amount of toxic metals washing out to sea.
- Take part or donate to tree planting initiatives to prevent pollution and sediment flowing into the Gulf.
- If out fishing, catch your dinner not your limit.
- Or simply pick up plastic rubbish in the street or at the beach!
We’ve got lots more happening on the day, including virtual reality underwater tours, sea life experiences, food, drink, and a chance to win some awesome prizes. A big thanks to our friends at Auckland Council Healthy Waters who are helping us to put on this event.
Want to give the Hauraki Gulf a birthday gift right now? It’s easy. SBN’s Million Metres programme currently has three restoration projects that will positively impact the water quality of the Hauraki Gulf. They focus on restoring native bush along waterways and wetlands to prevent further pollution and sediment flowing into the gulf. Make a difference today and support these projects with a gift of trees.
The Gift to our Gulf event continues SBN’s work to engage businesses to help restore and protect the Hauraki Gulf. We’ve focused on land-based pollution, especially plastic litter, sediment and toxic metals. Our work has been funded by Gulf Innovation Fund Together (GIFT) – a Foundation North initiative.
The ultimate aim is to transform the relationship between business people and our Gulf. That ties in closely with our work on reducing plastic packaging and supporting small businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.