New Zealand’s first legislated marine reserve, established 50 years ago around Te Hāwere-a-Maki/Goat Island north of Auckland, was also among the very first in the world. During the decades since then, marine scientists have been monitoring changes and tracking significant transformations in the ecosystem – from bare rocky reefs to thriving kelp forests.
Officially known as the Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve, the 556 hectares of protected waters and seabed became New Zealand’s first no-take zone in 1975. Back then, very little grew on the shallow rocky reefs. It took almost three decades for kelp forests to reestablish following the slow recovery of crayfish and snapper stocks.
