Landowners and public voluntarism will continue play a key role in efforts to protect biodiversity in New Zealand, the Department of Conservation's new boss says.
A section of the new boardwalk in Te Papakura o Taranaki / Egmont National Park. Photo: Supplied / DOC
The director general of the Department of Conservation, Penny Nelson has taken over from Lou Sanson, after holding senior roles both with the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
DOC is responsible for managing one-third of the country's landmass, and some in the sector say it's time for fundamental reform of the more than 25 pieces of legislation governing it.
Nelson tells Kathryn Ryan reform is due, but there are numerous approaches to effective conservation, and emphasised the public's role in successfully doing so.
“I don’t think there is a better time to be in conservation. New Zealanders are really up for contributing on what we need to do," she says.
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“Some of the big things that we really need to focus on are how do we protect our biodiversity – those really special things that we have in New Zealand, that if we lose them we lose them forever. We’ve also got to think about the interaction with climate change and when I hear over the last year some of our kiwi up north have found it hard to find food and water, what that says to me is we’ve really got to think about how climate change impacts how we manage conservation.
“I think the other thing we’ve got to focus on is our Treaty partnerships – how do we really do that well.”
Nelson sees her varying past roles as an asset and is keen to convince people of her green credentials.
“I really understand what good looks like," she says. "Twenty-five years ago, I lived on Kapiti Island when my husband was a DOC ranger and I got to wake up to bird song every morning and see what really excellent conservation management looks like and I have huge ambitions for us to do more of that through New Zealand.
“I worked across government, business and science so what I’m really good at is bringing diverse people together to get really clear on what we need to achieve and then putting in place a really practical plan to get there.”
In December last year the government unveiled a roadmap to overhaul antiquated and inadequate conservation laws.
Conservation Minister Kiri Allan announced the changes, which include a review of the Wildlife Act, increasing protection of Hauraki Gulf, simplifying the permit and concessions processes, and addressing issues with outdated national park rules.
Nelson says there needs to be conversation about what people want conservation to look like.
“The huge opportunity we’ve got with law reform is to have a discussion with New Zealanders about what does conservation need to look like for our next 35 years and then, given that, what do we need to have in the legislation to enable us to do that,” she says.
“When the department was set-up we came from a lot of different places and brought a lot of legislation with us, so that’s not surprising and I think we can achieve more if we really look at our legislation. But that’s not the only thing. I think what is also important is what I’m hearing we can do to work better with others even without that legislative change.”
Nelson emphasises the department is focused on working with landowners to voluntarily contribute to conservation efforts, directing them to make their efforts count where it matters.
“If you look at what’s happening at the moment with Predator Free - as I’ve come into the role, I’ve had so many people wanting to take to me about how excited they are about their traps in their backyard. I’ve had farmers getting in touch with me about what they’re doing to protect Kiwi on their land. So, I think if we’re really clear with people about what are the things we need to do to really help our biodiversity we’ll just have a whole lot of New Zealanders come in and work with us.”
The organisation manages a third of country’s land mass, including national parks and oversees regional management plans. Some have criticised the time it takes for these management plans to be drawn up.
Nelson says public participation in developing publicly-owned land and reserves is the way forward.
“People also want to work with us on public consultation land," she says.
"I was on the West Coast last week and what turning the Paparoa Great Walk into something that is really important to the community and West Coast has done is there is a lot of people who want to do more on conservation land to ensure that’s a really great opportunity for New Zealanders to have an experience in nature."
Hunters too have been motivated to help in efforts to keep pest numbers down, she says.
“I also had a meeting last week with the Game Animal Council. We have a lot of hunters in New Zealand who really want to work with us to do more with what we want to do about deer management. So, I think people don’t just want to do things in their backyard.”
There have been conversations about developing and deploying new ways of tackling pests, including the use of genetic technology to eradicate destructive invasive species like possums.
However, Nelson said using that it would be a matter for the public to have that conversation.
“Science and technology both have a really important role in the future of conservation," she says. "For example, when I recently visited the Kākāpō [recovery] programme, what they took me through is the huge changes that they’ve had in technology means they can now monitor those birds without even being there and when we have technology like that means we can do so much more than actually having to be on the ground.
“In terms of the science I think for future pest control, part of the reason that we invest in the science is we’re really hoping that we do get a breakthrough in future.”
There exists tension between private landowner's activities, including farmers, and public responsibilities to conserve land and native wildlife. There have also been delays on bringing forth the national policy statement of conservation.
Nelson says her department is willing to strongly advocate for these plans in the face of any pushback. However, she emphasises a co-operative approach with the farming sector.
“I’ve recently worked in the primary sector and already I’m having discussions with primary industries and various primary sector industry groups and some of the leading companies there about if we’re really going to protect biodiversity on their farms, because a lot of our special things are on sheep and beef farms in particular, how do we work together on that and, already, they’ve got high trust in things like the QE2 Trust. I think we’ve just got to do further work to really understand, for farmers to do more, what will help them do so faster.”
There has also been criticism from conservationists over DOC’s role in tourism and providing tourism infrastructure, even suggesting that the organisation is a de facto tourism department. Nelson says the department will continue its role in allowing people to engage in recreational activities on reserves, consistent with its wider remits.
“Our legislation is really clear. We have a role to enable people to recreate on public conservation land and anything that we do for that has to be in line with what matters for conservation values. So, I think we’ve got a huge opportunity – and we are doing it – to work with the tourism sector to work through what does our tourism future look like and how do we ensure that it really helps us improve conservation.”