Up to $26 million will be spent on restoring the Hauraki Gulf in support of a new law establishing 19 new protected areas in one of the country’s “great taonga”, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says.

The mix of public and private investment will “bring life back to the water, create jobs and strengthen connections between people and place” in an area that supports communities across Tāmaki Makaurau, Mahurangi and the Coromandel, Potaka said.

“The Hauraki Gulf / te Pātaka kai a Tīkapa Moana / Te Moananui-ā-Toiis [is] one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s great taonga. For too long, it’s been under pressure from pollution, sediment and overuse.

“We’re taking practical steps to rejuvenate it, for our children, our kaimoana, and our communities. It supports tourism, hospitality, fishing and recreation.”

Hauraki Gulf islands such as Tiritiri Matangi wildlife sanctuary welcome a collective 150,000 visitors a year. Photo / Fullers Group

The investment supports the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Act 2025, which establishes 19 new protected areas, places where reefs, kelp forests and marine life can recover while people continue to enjoy time on the moana, Potaka said.

The Government was investing $6m from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) to upgrade infrastructure on Hauraki Gulf islands including Rangitoto, Tiritiri Matangi and Kawau.

“These islands welcome more than 150,000 visitors each year. Safer wharves, better walking tracks and improved water systems will make it easier for families, schools and tour operators to enjoy these special places, and ensure visitors leave them better than they found them.”

In addition, a major philanthropic programme led by the NEXT Foundation would invest up to $20m over the next five years in reef restoration, the largest effort of its kind in the Gulf’s history, Potaka said.

“Divers and local experts will clear urchins from damaged reefs, giving kelp a chance to regrow, and creating underwater forests that bring back fish, crayfish and shellfish.

“Within a couple of years, those reefs will be teeming with life again, real results for our moana and for the people who depend on it.”

The Government had already channelled $10m of IVL funding into infrastructure at Gulf tourism hot spots, and on weed control across pest-free Gulf islands to support forest and sea birds living there in the last couple of years.

More than $10m Department of Conservation (DoC) operational funding had also been spent over four years to establish the new marine protected areas.

The first $2m from the NEXT Foundation would support pilot projects around Te Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island, the Noises and a research programme at Motutapu, in partnership with mana whenua, the University of Auckland, and DoC, Potaka said.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka thanked philanthropists Neal and Annette Plowman for their contribution to Hauraki Gulf's preservation. Photo / Greg Bowker

This built on substantial private investment in recent years from mana whenua and local organisations into seeding millions of shellfish in the Gulf, he said.

“I want to acknowledge the generosity of Neal and Annette Plowman and the NEXT Foundation for their leadership, and the partnership of mana whenua, conservationists, philanthropists and community groups across the Gulf.

“The Gulf adds over $5 billion of value to the country every year – it makes sense to invest here.”