Rebecca Bird
Rebecca BirdRebecca "Bex" leads the WWF NZ dolphin-saving team which is working for a future where Hector's and Maui's dolphins are safe and thriving in their natural range and are no longer threatened with extinction. Rebecca oversees four very busy work areas: Threatened species, Antarctic and the Southern Ocean, Sustainable Fisheries, and Marine Protected Areas.
“The Maui’s population has been declining since the 1970s, and protection measures introduced in 2008 have not succeeded in turning the situation around. It is a national tragedy that our critically endangered dolphins are still dying needlessly in fishing nets. We need to act immediately to get nets out of the water, including harbors and estuaries, to protect these dolphins throughout their range. ‘The fishing industry will need to step up and address the serious dolphin by-catch issue as a matter of priority. The New Zealand public have made it clear this is what they want.
We can’t change our past to bring back species like the moa that are lost forever, but we must not, and will not, give up on our critically endangered dolphins. We know that solutions exist to save Maui’s, it is time the government acted on behalf of all New Zealanders to protect this precious national treasure. The world is watching.”
- Rebecca Bird, Marine Program Manager, World Wildlife New Zealand
We can’t change our past to bring back species like the moa that are lost forever, but we must not, and will not, give up on our critically endangered dolphins. We know that solutions exist to save Maui’s, it is time the government acted on behalf of all New Zealanders to protect this precious national treasure. The world is watching.”
- Rebecca Bird, Marine Program Manager, World Wildlife New Zealand