Since their first concept in 1975, and the establishment of the first marine reserve at Leigh, many others followed. Some are voluntary, others managed by the Minister of Fisheries, but most are now managed by the Department of Conservation. In this Marine Reserves section of the Seafriends web site, you will find detailed information of each, complete with photos and  maps, how to get there, and an assessment of the underwater environment. For other details, visit the Department of Conservation's web site, or its overview map with links. On this overview map each of our marine reserves has been indicated by a red dot and a short name, which is often not its official name. Consult the table below for a quick overview by date of establishment, and click on the link for more detail. The first column gives a short key name, coresponding with the overview map. The description column gives the reserve's full and official name and environment type. Underneath the year of establishment, one finds an abbreviation of who manages it. Then follows a column with the extent of the area in square kilometres (1km2=100 ha). Finally we have added a quality assessment column, which is entirely our own. It shows the state of its marine environment. Unfortunately, many of our marine reserves are stressed or degrading rapidly. For more on resource management, biodiversity, principles of conservation and marine reserves, visit our conservation section. Here you will also find more about why reserves can fail, and how to asses marine environmental quality.
The locations are arranged from north to south. Because of their uniqueness, the Kermadec Islands have already received extensive coverage. The Goat Island marine reserve in Leigh, being the first, has also been documented extensively. Read it to learn more about the habitat zoning of the exposed reef in New Zealand.

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Further proposals:

• Piwhane to Spirits Bay near North Cape: proposed by Ngati Kuri
• Tom Bowling Bay near North Cape: proposed by Ngati Kuri

• Maketu: in the Bay of Plenty, a place of profound importance for tangata whenua, as the final landing-place of the Te Arawa waka (canoo), and the point where the Kaituna River brought the (clear) waters of Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti out to sea, until it was diverted in the 1950s for a land drainage programme. The Maketu headland, a strong strategic feature located between two rich wide estuaries, has always been an important site.

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