Victoria University PHD student, Urusula Nazar is studying the value of Marine Reserves. If you're Wellington-based and you're interested in taking a quick online survey see below -
Marine environments provide to humans food, recreational opportunities and coastal protection, as well as having aesthetic and cultural benefits. However, marine systems activities such as fishing, aquaculture, human settlement in coastal areas, run-off (e.g. from mining and farming), and climate change, are major threats to biodiversity. Marine Reserves (MRs) have been used as a solution to protect marine biodiversity, to improve the management of marine resources and also for scientific research (such as in New Zealand).
It is not enough to know that marine reserves are valuable, we need to know just how valuable they are.
My name is Ursula Rojas Nazar; I am a PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington. My research is entitled ‘Socio-economic evaluation of Marine Reserves in New Zealand’. The main goal of my thesis is to measure the economic value of the marine environments, in order to improve decision-making processes and improve public policies for marine conservation in NZ.
My work is focused on two marine reserves, the Taputeranga marine reserve, located in Island Bay (Wellington south coast), and the Kapiti marine reserve, located in front of Kapiti beach (Kapiti coast).
ARE YOU LIVING IN THE WELLINGTON REGION?
AND ARE YOU WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN MY RESEARCH BY COMPLETING A SIMPLE SURVEY?
If your answers are yes, I would like to invite you to participate in this research by answering a simple survey entitled ‘Would you like to know how much is the marine reserves worth for New Zelanders?’
It will take around 15 min. This survey is confidential, and it had been reviewed and approved by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee.
If you are happy to participate please go to:
Kapiti marine reserve survey go to: www.goo.gl/uwDr6
Taputeranga marine reserve survey go to: www.goo.gl/WzSbD
Please contact me if you require further clarification by email at ursula.rojasnazar@vuw.ac.nz