Abel Tasman foreshore now a scenic reserve

Date:  25 January 2007

Foreshore along the Abel Tasman National Park coastline is now a scenic reserve under the joint management of the Tasman District Council and the Department of Conservation.

The reserve encompasses 774 hectares and is approximately 70 km long. It includes foreshore adjoining national park and private land from the Marahau causeway in the south to Wainui in the north, including the Torrent Bay and Awaroa settlements, foreshore around islands, and estuaries. The foreshore has been gazetted as reserve today (25 January).

The foreshore reserve is to be managed under an administration committee comprised of the Tasman District Council Chief Executive and the DOC Nelson/Marlborough Conservator.

DOC Nelson/Marlborough Conservator Neil Clifton said making the foreshore a scenic reserve enabled better management of visitor pressures on the popular Abel Tasman coast.

“There has been considerable growth in visitor numbers to the Abel Tasman National Park in the last 15 years with people increasingly entering the park across the foreshore and most activity taking place in coastal areas.  It is estimated that 150,000 people visit coastal areas of the park each year.

“Growth in visitor numbers risks degradation of the natural environment and overcrowding could spoil people’s enjoyment of the area.

“Reserve status allows measures to be put in place to better manage commercial activity and visitor access on the foreshore. Tourist operators, including water taxi and guided sea kayaking operators, are required to have a concession to use the foreshore reserve.”

Acting Tasman District Council Chief Executive Lloyd Kennedy said visitors to the foreshore would see little change with its new scenic reserve status.

“People can still carry out the everyday activities they have previously undertaken, including such things as recreational fishing and taking of shellfish, except in Tonga Island Marine Reserve, anchoring boats in lagoons and estuaries, and collecting driftwood and seaweed. Interim bylaws will enable such activities to continue.

“The interim bylaws will be in place while a management plan for the foreshore reserve is developed. The management plan process will decide what activities are considered appropriate on the foreshore and the public will have a say in determining this through submissions on the draft plan.”

A draft foreshore reserve management plan is expected to be released for public submissions around the middle of this year.

Additional facts

• The foreshore reserve covers the tidal area from the Mean High Water Mark to Mean Low Water Springs.
• The reserve will be called the Abel Tasman Foreshore Scenic Reserve. Local iwi will be consulted about a Maori name for the reserve.
• The interim foreshore bylaws and provisions and offences contained within the Reserves Act 1977 will apply only to foreshore areas. The national park and adjacent coastal waters are administered separately and have separate regulations and provisions. The national park is administered by the department and the council has responsibility for activities in the coastal waters. 
• The foreshore reserve management plan is a separate management plan to that currently being developed for the Abel Tasman National Park as the two areas are administered separately.
• The council and department have worked with an Abel Tasman Foreshore Advisory Forum on foreshore management considerations. Consultation with this advisory forum will continue now the reserve has been created. The forum includes representatives of Awaroa and Torrent Bay residents, tourist operators, Latitude Nelson, iwi, the Nelson/Marlborough Conservation Board and environmental and boating groups.
• The proposal to make the Abel Tasman foreshore a scenic reserve came out of a 2001 report facilitated by Nelson Mayor Paul Matheson. Mr Matheson had been appointed to consider foreshore management options in conjunction with an advisory group, the Abel Tasman Foreshore Advisory Forum.  The establishment of a reserve was put on hold while foreshore and seabed legislation was developed. Reserve status for the Abel Tasman foreshore was then determined to be consistent with the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 and the Conservation Minister, Chris Carter, gave his approval for the foreshore to be created a reserve.  Completion of a boundary survey of the entire foreshore and the necessary legislative process for it to become a reserve then took place ahead of its gazettal as a reserve today (Thursday 25 January).  
• Before its gazettal as scenic reserve, the Abel Tasman foreshore was Crown land managed by the Tasman District Council under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1974 and Resource Management Act 1991.  Tourist operators previously did not require concessions for commercial activities on the foreshore.  With the new reserve status, concessions are now required and this will enable better management of commercial activity on the Abel Tasman foreshore.