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Maui's Dolphin Defence Fund

Maui's dolphins are the smallest and rarest marine dolphins on earth and New Zealand's only native dolphin species. They live in coastal waters up to a depth of 100m, where fishing pressure is intense. Gillnets and trawl nets have decimated them almost to the point of extinction: there are now just around 50 individuals left.

Maui's and Hector's are dying many times faster than they can breed because less than 20% of their home is protected against fishing nets. They can only cope with one death every 10-23 years due to all human activities combined, but five Maui's dolphins die in fishing nets each year. That's 75 times more than the sustainable limit.

Unless things change, Maui's dolphins will become extinct by 2030 as a result of fishing alone. We can't allow this to happen!

The New Zealand government just announced new protection measures fort Maui's dolphins, which will do nothing to stop their decline towards extinction. In doing so, it has ignored urgent calls by the international scientific community, including the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM). It also ignored the opinion of almost 100,000 people who have called for the dolphins' immediate and full protection against harmful fishing nets and all other man-made threats throughout their habitatthrough petitions, e-mails or formal submissions as part of government consultations.

We are setting up a MAUI'S DOLPHIN DEFENCE FUND because we feel that the government's decision is not based on the best available science, as is required by law, and because there is a host of procedural irregularities with the New Zealand government's decisions not to protect the dolphins from extinction. But we need your help to challenge the government's decision it in court.

Maui"˜s dolphins are not doomed to extinction. If human induced mortality is removed, they can still bounce back. But they need help now because saving them is a race against time!

You can help to give Maui's dolphins a chance against extinction by making a donation. All donations go directly into NABU International's Maui's dolphin charity account and will be used to challenge the government's decision.

WE ARE THEIR FINAL CHANCE! If we all chip in, we'll reach the target and can overturn this terrible decision. Every Dollar, Euro or Pound will get us closer to their survival.

Thank you!

Dr Barbara Maas
Head of International Species Conservation
NABU International - Foundation for Nature

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Donations 

  • Sujean Shin
    • $200 
    • 7 yrs
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Organiser

Barbara Maas
Organiser

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