An alarming proportion of New Zealanders aren't wearing hats or seeking shade to protect themselves from the sun.

A new Otago University study has observed more than 2600 people in outdoor recreation spaces in the Wellington region.

It shows 4.3 percent of them wore hats when sun protection was warranted, and just 10.7 percent sought shade.

Researcher Ryan Gage said those numbers came as a bit of a surprise.

"It's worrying because New Zealand has the highest incident rate of melanoma in the world. More people die from melanoma in New Zealand than die on the roads."

He said New Zealand hasn't released any public media sun smart campaigns in almost a decade.

"We really need mass media campaigns to reinforce the sun safety messages, and we need to work towards getting shade in areas most popular with people."