The Nature Heritage Fund is a contestable Ministerial fund that was established in 1990 to help achieve the objectives of the Indigenous Forest Policy. In 1998 the scope of the fund was widened to include non-forest ecosystems.
The purpose of the fund is to protect indigenous ecosystems that represent the full range of natural diversity originally present in the New Zealand landscape by providing incentives for voluntary conservation.
Nature Heritage Fund logo
The Nature Heritage Fund, administered by an independent committee, is serviced by the Department of Conservation and receives an annual allocation of funds from the Government.
Since 1990 the fund has protected over 339,528 hectares of indigenous ecosystem through legal and physical protection (e.g. direct purchase, covenanting or fencing). Much of this land would otherwise have been logged, cleared or further damaged by introduced browsing mammals.
New Zealand's unique natural heritage
New Zealand inherited a rich mosaic of natural ecosystems. New Zealand's isolation, along with its history of glaciation and relatively recent occupation, its varied geographic features, soil types and climatic differences, left a heritage of great diversity and uniqueness.
Around 85% of of our vascular plants are not found anywhere else in the world. New Zealand's unusual shape with its diverse landforms and mountain ranges provides a variety of environments which support many different plant communities and habitats, each with its own unique combination of species.
Why our natural heritage needs protecting
While often greatly modified, natural vegetation still covers about 60% of New Zealand, but only about one quarter of this is protected in national parks and reserves. Some of the natural vegetation is converted to other forms of land use each year, while other areas continue to be modified resulting in loss of natural values.
Grazing by domestic or feral animals, prevents natural regeneration. Eventually these natural areas will die. It is important that these different communities are preserved as functioning ecosystems, for scientific study and for the enjoyment of future generations. Farmers and private landowners can make an important contribution to conservation by protecting indigenous areas on their land.
Methods of protection
The Nature Heritage Fund helps meet the cost of protecting areas of high ecological value by providing contestable finance for projects that protect ecosystems. Some options for protecting ecosystems include:
Direct Purchase
The fund provides the finance and negotiates the purchase of areas in need of protection for its clients. The fund also contributes to purchases made by local authorities or other agencies prepared to manage protected areas as reserves under the Reserves Act 1977.
Covenanting
Where landowners want to protect natural areas, but not relinquish title to the land these areas can be covenanted. A covenant is a legal agreement that protects the area and is registered against the title of the land. The Nature Heritage Fund provides assistance with fencing, survey and legal costs.
Nature Heritage Fund criteria
To receive assistance, proposals need to meet as many of the following criteria as possible:
Representativeness:
ensures that viable or sustainable examples of all natural ecosystems are protected by approximately the same proportions in which they were originally present in the natural landscape. The aim is to protect both common and rare species habitats and communities, and the ecological processes and interactions that link them.
Sustainability:
ensures that the natural values proposed for protection can be sustained within the protected area by determining whether the values for which the area is protected will persist in the long term. Size and shape of the protected area, how well it is protected or buffered from the effects of surrounding land uses, and existing and potential threats are all considered, along with linkages to other protected areas.
Landscape integrity:
the extent to which an ecosystem contributes to the original integrity of the landscape. It is important to ensure the original character, context and range of processes that link the various ecosystems are maintained, along with the natural nutrient cycles, energy flows and hydrology.
Amenity and utility:
natural ecosystems contribute to people's physical and spiritual welfare, providing educational, heritage, recreational, tourist and other amenity value. They also contribute ecosystem services including conserving soil, maintaining water quality and supply, and storing carbon.
Applications
Nature Heritage Fund application forms can be downloaded from this site or can be obtained from:
The Executive Officer
Nature Heritage Fund
PO Box 10-420
Wellington
Tel: +64 4 471 0726 or Fax +64 4 471-3018
Email NHF-Admin@doc.govt.nz
Applications for funding close:
• 10 February • 30 April • 31 July • 31 October
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