What’s at stake and how you can help

The Bill proposes deeply problematic amendments that risk undermining the protection of New Zealand’s public conservation land.

At the heart of the issue is Section 6 of the current Conservation Act 1987, the foundation of the entire law. It defines the purpose of all public conservation land and guides every decision that flows from it.

For decades, the principle has been clear: conservation comes first. That includes the recreational values that make these places worth protecting, the tracks, rivers, and wild places that we have enjoyed for generations. This Bill flips that on its head.

By changing Section 6 to “enable economic use and development to the greatest extent practicable” (new s6(ea)), it shifts the focus away from DOC being charged to protect our wild places to encouraging economic development.

The Bill makes no distinction between small-scale, low-impact tourism and large-scale industrial projects.

The Bill also weakens the New Zealand Conservation Authority and Conservation Boards, the independent bodies that exist to represent the public interest in conservation decisions, and hands that power solely in the hands of the Minister of Conservation. The checks and balances that have protected our wild places for decades are being removed.

Because economic development will be the underpinning purpose of all conservation land, DOC and the Minister of Conservation will find it almost impossible to decline a development proposal. Not because they do not want to protect these places, but because the law itself will be working against them.

This creates a real risk that inappropriate or high-impact development could be approved in places that should be protected.

This is not a minor adjustment, and its effects could be far-reaching and irreversible for recreation and conservation as a whole across the country.

The Bill offers solutions to some legitimate problems, such as streamlining concession processes and simplifying complex planning frameworks. However, many of these solutions could be achieved under existing legislation without the problematic changes proposed in other sections in the Bill.

Most of New Zealand’s natural areas, mountains, lakes, rivers, coast and its backcountry huts and tracks are in public conservation land. Any development approved on that land will have the potential to change or damage the things that make these wild places special. Under this Bill, there is nothing requiring anyone to consider what that means for the people who use them.

If conservation land is sold or handed over to someone else, there is no obligation to protect public access to it either. The wild places that generations of New Zealanders have tramped, climbed, paddled, and explored could simply be lost, with no legal way to stop it.

FMC submitted jointly with nine outdoor recreation groups on the Bill on July 3rd. Read the joint submission here. 

FMC also completed its own submission. The submission highlighted our key concerns and recommendations:

• Ensuring that any exchange and disposal mechanism includes a mandatory public process, and includes the mandatory protection of recreation access. The scope of the Minister’s withdrawal on these provisions is unclear, and our concerns are about protecting public access in any replacement provisions.
• The proposed section 6(ea) and related provisions must be redrafted. The Bill compromises the place of conservation and outdoor recreation in the conservation legal system. For many tens of thousands of New Zealanders, outdoor recreation is viewed as a birthright, and a key part of what makes New Zealand a great place to live.
• Concentrating decision-making in the Minister’s hands. The New Zealand Conservation Authority and Conservation Boards must be consulted and retain at least joint approval power.