The Kermadecs – Fact Sheet

The Ambition

To have the entire 620,000 square kilometers of the Kermadec region protected. A Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will be the single biggest marine reserve in the world, a fitting declaration for what National Geographic calls “one of the last pristine sites in our oceans.”

The Environment

The area has a remarkable diversity of marine habitats. Its islands, more than 50 submarine volcanoes and extensive marine trench (the second deepest on earth) form outstanding examples of major stages in Earth’s evolution. A third of all known New Zealand fish and a third of all our sharks and rays originate from the Kermadec Ridge. The area is also an important foraging ground and migratory pathway for whales, marine fish, turtles and seabirds. It is one of the few places left in the world that allows us to truly imagine what the planet was like before large scale human impact.