Raising awareness in support of a deep seabed mining moratorium

The Cook Islands Government has issued 3 exploration licences to deep seabed mining (DSM) companies in the Cook Islands. They are pushing forwards, despite not knowing anywhere near enough about what biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecological links will be damaged or destroyed during the mining process.

The mining companies doing the exploration are investing a lot of money. They want to mine, and will not be looking for reasons not to. We need independent researchers with deep sea capacity to assess the impacts before any decision to mine, or not to mine, is made.

Te Ipukarea Society is campaigning for a moratorium on any commercial DSM until a lot more research has been done on the environmental impacts. In 2021, we were able to visit all of the remote islands of our large ocean state, travelling by traditional voyaging canoe, to raise awareness on ocean health issues and the potential impacts of DSM. We are raising funds to repeat this voyage 5 years on, in 2026, as the end of the mining exploration phase approaches, and the start of commercial exploitation moves close to becoming a reality. You can see more about our campaign here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2704qkIEdI&t=35s