FMC’s submission on draft Te Hiku o Te Ika-a-Māui / Far North Conservation Management Strategy

FMC has recently submitted on the draft Te Hiku o Te-Ika-a-Māui Conservation Management Strategy.

One of the main issues we touched on in our submission is the need for greater clarity about the state of public recreation in Te Korowai area. Recreation options in the area are significantly limited at the moment. The lack of multi day recreation opportunities is also obvious, which has an impact on the number of visitors to the region.

Another issue we’ve looked into is the increased stress on the environment and infrastructure in certain areas, where limited recreation opportunities exist. We’ve highlighted the need for a sustainable spread of visitors to the area. Our recommendation is for DOC to work with stakeholders and tangata whenua to ensure this. We’ve also used this opportunity to express our wish to be involved as an acknowledged community stakeholder in future discussions relating to Te Korowai.

We appreciated being part of the collaborative process, especially public webinars, which our members attended, and conversations with the CMS team that we had. We will attend and speak at the hearings later this year.

Photo: Cape Brett hut, (c) Stephen Martin