New Zealand’s public conservation land belongs to all New
Zealanders. It is where we hunt, tramp, paddle, climb, fly,
cave, and ride. The Government’s new Conservation Amendment
Bill puts that land at risk, and New Zealand’s leading
outdoor recreation groups have joined forces to call for its
core aspects to be redrafted, in particular to provide
public reassurance to New Zealanders that their recreational
land is not for sale.
The group spans hunting,
tramping, mountain biking, caving, whitewater paddling, hang
gliding and climbing. It includes the New Zealand
Deerstalkers Association, Federated Mountain Clubs, Mountain
Bike New Zealand, New Zealand Alpine Club, Whitewater New
Zealand, the New Zealand Speleological Society, the New
Zealand Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, New
Zealand Canyoning and the Aotearoa Climbing Access
Trust.
“Our core concern is that the bill places no
meaningful limits on the disposal of public conservation
land, while stripping away the independent checks that
currently protect it,” says Allan Brent, FMC
President.
At the heart of the recreation coalition’s
concerns is what members describe as a fundamental
reordering of priorities for public conservation land. The
Bill inserts a new commercial development mandate that sits
alongside conservation, with no clear subordination to
it.
“It’s arguably flipping the DOC priority, putting
recreation last, conservation in the middle and
commercialisation at the top of the priority list. If it’s
not doing that, like some of the government’s analyses
say, then the issue is now at least arguable. We can’t
have that lack of clarity about such a core issue – what our
conservation land is for,” said Callum Sheridan, President
of the NZDA.
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“It’s probably possible to fix these
things, but the government needs to listen to the concerns
being raised by our members and the public, take them
seriously and make significant changes, or withdraw the
Bill. We can’t support the Bill in its current form. It’s
too enabling and open ended, with too much top down power
and no public input to key decisions,” said Edwin Sheppard
of Aotearoa Climbing Access Trust.
The recreation
coalition is also alarmed by the concentration of power in
the Minister of Conservation, with Conservation Boards and
the New Zealand Conservation Authority sidelined. Members
say this leaves the public with no meaningful recourse short
of the High Court.
The group’s joint submission will
call for the Bill to be redrafted, or to have it withdrawn.
“That will take some time, but so be it. The land will be
there forever,” said Brent.
“Any redraft must
specifically identify land proposed for disposal and put
clear and meaningful guardrails around disposal, require
public consultation for each parcel, assess recreation value
alongside conservation value, and preserve independent
oversight mechanisms,” says Sheridan.
Submissions on
the Conservation Amendment Bill close at midnight on July 2.
The group is encouraging all New Zealanders who use public
conservation land to make a submission, contact their local
MP telling them about their special places locally, and
requesting to present to the Select Committee in their home
town and not in Wellington.
Note:
FMC
represents 23,000 trampers, climbers, and backcountry users
across New Zealand through its affiliated
clubs.
