An international environmental organisation says Maori and Polynesian cultures hold the key to conserving fish species in the Pacific Ocean.
The PEW Environment Group recently hosted a delegation from Rapanui or Easter Island, which appealed to the New Zealand Government to help them protect the ocean from pollution and illegal fishing.
The group's New Zealand director, Bronwen Golder, says areas in the Pacific Ocean that the PEW Environment Group has identified as being at risk include New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, butMaori and Pasifika people already have the solutions.
Ms Golder says it's about going back to traditional methods of conservation.
She says the values of the Rapanui people and Maori are critical to saving the ocean space and her group's agenda.
Ms Golder says that other areas in the Pacific Ocean that the PEW Environment Group has identified as being at risk include New Caledonia, the Marianas Trench in Micronesia, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, French Polynesia, Pitcairn Islands and Rapanui.
