Appendix 3 Glossary

Acutely threatened species

Taxa which are facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild, as defined by criteria that quantify total populations size, area of occupancy, fragmentation of populations, declines in total population, declines in habitat area and predicted declines due to existing threats. The categories of nationally critical, nationally endangered and nationally vulnerable are subdivisions of acutely threatened species.

Advocate

Recommend, promote, present a case in support and includes steps up to and including presentation of cases before the Environment Court in favour of conservation, or for inclusion in district and regional plans and other planning documents.

Associates

People, agencies and organisations with whom the Department works, collaborates, shares information, consults or otherwise interacts.

Biodiversity

The variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and ecological complexes of which they are part. This includes diversity within species, between species and ecosystems.

Biosecurity

The exclusion, eradication or effective management of risks posed by pests and diseases to the economy, environment and human health.

By-kill

Non-target species killed in the course of fishing activity and includes protected species such as birds and marine mammals.

Capability

The appropriate combination of competent people, knowledge, money, technology, physical assets, systems and structures necessary to deliver a specified level of performance in the pursuit of the organisation's objectives, now and/or in the future.

Chronically threatened species

Taxa which are facing extinction, but are buffered slightly by either a large total population, or a slow decline rate. The categories of serious decline and gradual decline are subdivisions of chronically threatened species.

Coastal waters

Seawater with the outer limits of the territorial sea and includes seawater with a substantial freshwater component and seawater in estuaries, fiords, inlets, harbours or embayments.

Comprehensive

The extent to which the full range of the diversity of natural, historical and cultural heritage is incorporated in the protected area network or selected for conservation management.

Concession

A lease, licence, permit or easement granted under Part IIIB of the Conservation Act to enable the carrying out of a trade, occupation or business on areas managed by the Department of Conservation.

Concessionaire

A person who undertakes activities under a concession (See concession).

Conservation

The preservation and protection of natural and historic resources for the purpose of maintaining their intrinsic values, providing for the appreciation and recreational enjoyment by the public, and safeguarding the options of future generations.

Conservation Services

Outputs produced by the Minister of Conservation or the Director-General of the Department of Conservation that enable those persons to perform their statutory powers, duties, and functions related to the adverse effects of commercial fishing on protected species, including research related to such effects on protected species, and research on measures to mitigate the adverse effects of commercial fishing on protected species, and the development of population management plans under the Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978 and the Wildlife Act 1953.

Core competency training

Training to provide the skills and knowledge considered essential to any one role.

Cultural heritage

See historic and cultural heritage.

Customary fishing

Traditional gathering and use of fish and marine invertebrates, including but not limited to shellfish, by tangata whenua.

Ecological management

Management of the inter-relationships between living organisms and their surroundings.

Ecosystem

A biological system comprising a community of living organisms and its associated non-living environment, interacting as an ecological unit.

Ecosystem-based solutions

Solutions that recognise the interaction between living organisms and between living organisms and their non-living environment and which allow energy and matters to flow through the system.

Ecosystem services

A wide range of conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that are part of them, help sustain and fulfil human life.

Endangered species

A species in danger of extinction and whose survival is unlikely if the causal factors continue operating. See also: threatened species.

Endemic

Species of plants and animals that are unique to an area or animals that may migrate, but breed only in that area (Williams & Given, 1981: The Red Data Book of New Zealand).

Environmental indicator programme

Programme of reporting on the state or quality of the environment led by the Ministry for the Environment. Environmental indicators allow monitoring of environmental trends and tracking of progress towards stated objectives and policy goals. A number of possible environmental indicators have been identified to monitor issues such as air quality, biodiversity, climate change, contaminated sites, marine environments, water, transport and waste.

Exacerbator

Crown as exacerbator describes situations where activity on Crown-owned land exacerbates problems that an adjoining landowner may be experiencing. A common example is where a farmer controls possums but they keep coming over from the reserve next door.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

The area of ocean from the outside edge of the territorial sea (which covers inland water, harbours, and the area out to 12 nautical miles from the coast) out to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

Hapu

Local group, clan, section of a large Maori tribe.

Historic place

Any land (including an archaeological site) or any building or structure (including part of a building or structure) or any combination of land and a building or structure that forms part of the historic and cultural heritage of New Zealand and lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand and includes anything that is in or fixed to such land.

Historic site

Any land (including an archaeological site) or any building or structure (including any part of a building or structure) or any combination of land and a building or structure that forms part of the historic and cultural heritage of New Zealand and lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand and includes anything that is in or fixed to such land, whether the site is recognised by the Historic Places Act 1993 or not.

Historic heritage

See historic and cultural heritage.

Historic and cultural heritage

Any natural feature, land, water, archaeological site, building or other structure, facility, object, event or tradition or combination of these which contributes to an understanding and appreciation of New Zealand's history and cultures.

Indigenous

Occurring naturally in New Zealand, including self-introduced species, but not human-introduced or human-assisted ones.

Intermediate outcomes

As outcomes are usually high level results, a chain of more specific intermediate outcomes that feed into an outcome is often defined. These are especially useful for the Department, where response of the environment, pests and species to outputs delivered in the field level is expected due to the nature of the ecological cycles involved.

International treaties, agreements and conventions

A document agreed among two or more sovereign states or governments setting out common understandings and undertakings. Administrative servicing falls under a variety of arrangements, varying from secretariats funded by signatories to costs falling where they lie. Treaties may or may not be legally enforceable or may simply rely on co-operation among the parties to ensure their implementation.

Interpret, interpretation

Convey/conveying information about the origin, meaning or values of natural and historic and cultural heritage via live, interactive or static media. It occurs in the vicinity of the subject and is designed to stimulate visitor interest, and increase understanding and support for conservation.

Intrinsic value

A concept which regards the subject under consideration as having value or worth in its own right independent of any value placed on it by humans.

Introduced species

Not occurring naturally in New Zealand, excluding self-introduced species and including species introduced by humans and whose arrival has been assisted by human activity.

Iwi: Maori people

Kawenata: Covenant

Komiti: Committee

Landscape: An expanse of scenery that can be seen in a single view.

LENZ

Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) is a classification of environments mapped across New Zealand's landscape. It is -a classification that is nationally consistent, works at a range of scales and comes complete with information about climate, soils and landforms.

Marine protected area

An area of sea especially dedicated to or achieving the protection and maintenance of indigenous biodiversity, and managed by legal or other effective means.

Marine Protected Areas Strategy

A plan of action prepared by the Department of Conservation for achieving the protection and maintenance of marine indigenous biodiversity.

Marine reserves

A marine area constituted as a marine reserve under the Marine Reserves Act 1971, section 4 or declared by an Order in Council made under the Marine Reserves Act 1971, section 71.

Natural heritage

Includes indigenous species, habitats and ecosystems, geological and physiographical elements, features and systems.

Natural Heritage Management System

System established by the Department to enable it and others to understand the state of natural heritage, identify the best interventions and report on what has been achieved.

Nature Heritage Fund

A contestable Ministerial fund 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 objective of the fund is to protect indigenous ecosystems that represent the full range of natural diversity originally present in New Zealand landscape by providing incentives for voluntary conservation.

New Zealand Conservation Authority

A national body of 13 appointed members and established under the Conservation Act 1987, section 6A. Amongst other functions, it has the statutory responsibility for approving statements of general policy for national parks, conservation management strategies and plans and national park management plans.

Nga Whenua Rahui

A contestable fund to assist Maori landowners to protect indigenous forests and other habitats and ecosystems.

Operating Review System

System operated by the Department for maintaining periodic review of outputs and activities against plan.

Outcome

The results experienced by the community from a combination of conservation actions and external factors.

Outputs

Outputs (sometimes referred to as 'interventions') are the goods and services produced by the Department in order to achieve or make progress towards the outcome.

Partnership programmes

Activities and projects characterised by mutual co-operation and responsibility for achieving a specific goal. They may involve community groups, corporate and industry bodies, and may involve formal agreements, such as memoranda of understanding and protocols.

Pest

An organism capable of or potentially capable of causing unwanted harm, or posing significant risks to New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity.

Place

A particular portion of space occupied by a person or object or objects.

Preservation

In relation to a resource, means the maintenance, so far as is practicable, of its intrinsic values.

Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi

Means the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi set out by Government and includes the rider established by the whales case (Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board v Director-General of Conservation). The Court of Appeal ruled that section 4 to the Conservation Act applied to all the Acts in the First Schedule to the Conservation Act to the extent that the provisions of section 4 were not inconsistent with the Acts in the First Schedule.

Protected Area Network / Protected Areas

Terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas that are protected primarily for the purpose of the conservation of natural and/or historic heritage using a range of legal mechanisms that provide long term security of tenure, status or land use purpose, either privately or publicly owned.

The principal criteria for New Zealand's protected area network are:

• comprehensiveness: the degree to which the full range of ecological communities and their biological diversity are incorporated within protected areas.
• representativeness: the extent to which areas selected for inclusion in the protected area network are capable of reflecting the known biological diversity and ecological patterns and processes of the ecological community or ecosystem concerned, or the extent to which populations represent or exemplify the range of genetic diversity of a taxonomic unit.

Protection

In relation to a resource, means its maintenance, so far as is practicable, in its current state; but includes its restoration to some former state and its augmentation, enhancement, or expansion. (Conservation Act, section 2).

Restoration

The active intervention and management of degraded habitats, ecosystems, landforms and landscapes in order to restore indigenous natural character, ecological and physical processes and their cultural and visual qualities (New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy); or for historic heritage, to return a place as nearly as possible to a known earlier state.

Site

A place chosen or used to conduct an activity.

Species

A group of organisms which has evolved distinct common inheritable features and occupies a particular geographic range, and which is capable of interbreeding freely but not with members of other species. (See also Biodiversity).

Species conservation programme

Programme of work aimed at the recovery of a species or the halt in its decline.

Species recovery plan

Non-statutory planning document setting out the goals and objectives for the recovery of a species or group of species that are threatened with extinction.

Stakeholders

All individuals or groups, both public and private, with an interest in the policies and actions undertaken by the Department of Conservation in relation to public conservation land and waters and species management.

Standard operating procedure

Document prepared by the Department of Conservation to achieve consistency, agreed standards, clearly accountable actions, legal compliance and formally agreed best practice for activities undertaken by the Department.

State party representative

Person appointed to represent the interests of and vote on behalf of a state or government under an international convention.

Sustainable management

Actions and plans to sustain natural, historical and cultural heritage.

Tangata whenua

Iwi, hapu and whanau with mana whenua or mana moana in a given rohe or locality.

Taonga

Valued resources or prized possessions held by Maori, both material and non-material. It is a broad concept that includes tangible and intangible aspects of natural and historic resources of significance to Maori including wahi tapu and intellectual property.

Te Pukenga Atawhai

Training programme run by the Department of Conservation to induct staff into Maori beliefs and values, the Treaty of Waitangi, kinship and social systems, political structures, customs and protocol, hui and communication with Maori.

Threatened species

A species likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Threatened species have been further classified as acutely threatened (comprising the nationally critical, nationally endangered, and nationally vulnerable categories), chronically threatened (comprising the serious decline and gradual decline categories) and at risk (comprising the range restricted and sparse categories). Full definitions and qualifiers can be found in Molloy et al, 2002, Classifying Species According to Threat of Extinction, Department of Conservation Threatened Species Occasional Publication 22.

Unwanted organism

An organism declared to be an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act, which then prevents sale and distribution of that organism throughout New Zealand.

Work of Role

People management system adopted by the Department that sets out the organisational context for each role, the purpose of the role, the competencies needed, the type of work the role is accountable for, the authorities exercised, internal and external relationships and how the work relates to the work of the levels above and below in the management structure.

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