Consultations

In this section:

Current

Northland Conservation Management Strategy review

About the CMS

A CMS describes how places the Department manages on your behalf, (public conservation land and water) should be and look in 10 years time.

It's about how people like you can support the conservation task. So your views on the places you visit, value and treasure are really important.

A CMS covers issues such as:

Protecting forests and wetlands from pests
Helping threatened species
Restoring historic and cultural sites
Providing visitor facilities
Enabling appropriate commercial activities
Assisting communities with their conservation projects
Creating marine protected areas.

The current CMS expires in 2009.

Tapotupotu Bay. Photo: Sylvia Bauer.
Tapotupotu Bay

Progress so far

There’s been a fantastic response! Over the last 18 months iwi, various agencies and lots of groups and individuals have attended over 70 hui, workshops, festivals and events about the CMS. Department of Conservation (DOC) staff and Northland Conservation Board members have received your feedback on the future management of public conservation lands, waters and other assets in Northland. Views were also sought through a survey / questionnaire on the internet. Staff and board members have met people from right around Northland and further afield, where there are shared interests north of Auckland or at a national level.

A huge thanks to all who contributed. DOC’s delighted with your response to the survey and participation at workshops and hui. Over 500 people willingly provided their views. The information has been documented and is being carefully considered and used to prepare the new draft Northland CMS.

Common themes

Some common themes have emerged from what you’ve all said:

Changing values - Public understanding and expectations are changing around recreation use, awareness of the environment and the importance of conservation.

Access - Walking, vehicle or aerial access to public conservation land is necessary if people are to enjoy it and value it. There are potential conflicts between some user groups in some locations.

Water quality - Protecting and enhancing fresh water quality is a high priority for many communities, who depend on pubic conservation land as catchment for water supplies.

Pest control techniques - There appears to be widespread support for rodent control to help protect kiwi and other species. Support for 1080 for possum control appears less robust.

Energy production - Concerns were expressed about the potential impacts of new energy generation technologies.

Subdivision - Concerns about the impact of more intense housing subdivision especially in coastal areas is widespread, along with potential impacts on natural and recreation values, changes in the character of small communities and infrastructure needs.

Vehicles on beaches - Communities are divided on the extent to which vehicle use should be allowed on beaches.

Marine protection - There appears to be greater understanding of marine management issues than in the past, but how they might be resolved is unclear.

Kaimoana - “If it is about food it is important to me”. Reductions in the availability and quality of seafood are lamented especially in communities dependent on supplementary food from the ocean.

Pollution - All forms of pollution ranging from sewage to plastics to rubbish left by visitors are unacceptable.

Connection - Pakeha communities are able to articulate increasing connections to public conservation land through historic records and visitor experiences.

Kaitiakitanga - Maori communities continue to assert their role as kaitiaki of public conservation land and their ancestral inter-relationships.

Participation - Communities appreciate the opportunity to participate in and express their views around the future of conservation management in their localities. They want to work more closely with the Department and seek provision of training and youth programmes.

Collaborative outcomes - Co-ordination and collaboration of efforts by central government agencies and local and regional government is supported.

Winners of the CMS Review submission draw

David Rhodes of Mahinepua: Day trip to North Cape
Helen Moodie of Whangarei: Weekend at Mimiwhangata
Joshua Rowe of Matakohe: Evening at Waipoua Forest with Footprints Waipoua
June Paniora of Waipoua: Marine Mammal Patrol in Bay of Islands

What happens next?

Public notification of the draft Northland CMS starts the statutory phase of the review. Please note that we will not notify the Northland CMS for formal public comment until 2010, as we first need to progress the government’s priority of establishing a kauri national park based around the Waipoua forests.

Public notification will be widely advertised. The Department will do its best to let everyone who has participated in the process to date know when this happens, provided your contact details are known.

Copies of the draft CMS will be available on this site and CDs and printed copies can be seen at DOC offices throughout New Zealand. The process then follows Section 17F of the Conservation Act. DOC will call for submissions on the draft CMS, hold hearings, summarise submissions, revise the draft in light of those submissions and forward the revised draft to the Northland Conservation Board. The Board will consider it and if satisfied, recommend its approval to the New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA). The Minister of Conservation also has the opportunity to make comments before final approval by the NZCA.