Two new appointments have been made to the Fiordland Marine Guardians by the Environment Minister David Parker.

They are John Cushen and Gavin Tayles. They join reappointed guardians Rebecca McLeod, Mark Peychers and Stewart Bull.

Cushen has worked in Fiordland as a tourism business advisor, nature guide and boat skipper. He is involved in several community conservation projects including Predator Free Rakiura, the Stewart Island/Rakiura Community and Environment Trust, the Wakatipu Wildlife Trust and the Tuckers Beach Wildlife Reserve group.

Tayles resides in rural Northern Southland and has had a life-long association with recreation in the Fiordland National Park. He has been a recreational fisher and diver in the Fiordland Marine Area for more than 20 years.

McLeod has been with the group since 2012 and has been chairperson since 2015, while both Bull and Peychers have served as guardians since the group’s establishment in 2005.

The Fiordland Marine Guardians is an advisory group established under the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005. It advises central and local government on the integrated management of the Fiordland Marine Area.