PM Jacinda Ardern gives hope to college marine team with second 'stay in touch' message

Tuesday, 3 September 2019

Niwa has collected seafloor video footage in the Marlborough Sounds.

The group of Marlborough students on a mission to save New Zealand's marine life has received another response from the Prime Minister.

After meeting with the team in June, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern requested they send her a detailed summary of the issues facing the Marlborough Sounds marine environment.

The group of current and former Marlborough Girls' College students followed up the meeting with a document which outlined issues like dredging, overfishing, sedimentation and anchoring. They also touched on possible marine management strategies.

They received a response from Ardern on Monday, which included a handwritten note saying, 'Thanks again! I'll ask Minister Sage to copy me into her response to you so I can stay in touch'.

**READ MORE:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with Marlborough Girls' College students in June to hear their concerns and ideas about marine protection in the Marlborough Sounds.

* Young Marlborough marine team vow to 'stay strong' on Sounds protection

* PM Jacinda Ardern to check if local bill would work for marine guardians in Marlborough

* Explainer: Marine Guardians and the 50-year-old Marine Reserves Act**

A handwritten add-on at the bottom of the typed response.

Ardern also said she was impressed with their 'thorough and compelling report' and would pass it onto Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage.

The group of girls, dubbed 'the marine team', had a sit-down with Ardern in June, where they voiced concerns and pitched their ideas about cutting the red tape and setting up a marine guardian body for the Sounds.

After the meeting, Ardern said she would look into the feasibility of a local bill that could pave the way for marine guardians to be set up in Marlborough.

The marine team want to protect the Marlborough Sounds for future generations.

The group of Marlborough teenagers had been pressing the Government for better, or simpler, marine protection in the Marlborough Sounds for over a year, first writing to the prime minister in June 2018. As some students had graduated, others had stepped up to the table to continue their pursuit.

'We feel great urgency for the need to protect the marine environment in order to ensure its health, biodiversity and sustainability for generations to come,' they wrote to Ardern in August.

Marine team originals, from left, Demi Fearn, Hannah Dickson, Holly Wills, Baylee McConaghey and Siobhan Hemingway, kicked off the project with their first letter to the Prime Minister in June 2018.

They investigated the relationships between human disturbances and marine species in the Sounds.

'The Marlborough Sounds are sunken river valleys that consist of soft sediments and rocky reefs.

The team want to ensure the 'health, biodiversity and sustainability' of the Marlborough Sounds for years to come.

'These vulnerable habitats take millions of years to form and provide essential shelter and food for all living marine species.

'Healthy ecosystems are essential to provide resilience in the face of global stressors such as climate change including ocean acidification.'

Year 13 student Baylee McConaghey said they were feeling positive about Ardern's response.

'The fact that we have her support is beyond amazing. It kind of gives us hope.

'She said that she wanted to keep in touch which is good.'

They researched the human impact on marine species for six weeks to put their recent report together, receiving support and advice from scientists and community groups, McConaghey said.

'We wanted to portray that everything in our marine environment is interconnected.

'That it's important to manage and protect ecosystems holistically. We showed links between species - the cod, the kina, the kelp - and how they all depend on each other.'

The team would meet with Marlborough Mayor John Leggett on Thursday to hand over a hard copy and discuss the idea of a local bill.