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Regional councils have specific management responsibilities over coastal waters and habitats which lie within New Zealand’s territorial seas out to 12 nm offshore. This responsibility has been expressed in the draft Wellington Regional Policy Statement (GWRC 2010) by a policy which directs regional and district plans to identify ecosystems and habitats with significant indigenous biodiversity values (Policy 22) that meet one or more of the criteria for 1) Representativeness, 2) Rarity, 3) Diversity, 4) Ecological context, 5) Tangata whenua values.