3.1 Outputs of the Department

The work the Department does (the outputs it delivers) is described here by output group. How these contribute towards the achievement of the outcome and intermediate outcomes is shown in Figure 1 following.

3.1.1 Description of the output groups

1. Pest, weed, and fire management: This work covers management of, and response to, threats to species and ecosystems throughout New Zealand. This includes maintaining an effective fire management capacity, eradication and control of terrestrial and aquatic pests and weeds, and the survey and monitoring of pressures and of ecological condition associated with the impacts of these pests and weeds.
2. Biosecurity: This work covers the Department's biosecurity effort, which aims to help prevent the entry and/or establishment of new organisms that pose a threat to New Zealand's native biodiversity, and to reduce the unwanted damage caused by harmful organisms that have established in New Zealand⁴.
3. Regional pest management strategies: This work controls regional priority pests and weeds⁵ that occur on conservation lands, which may cause problems for neighbouring landowners, as outlined in regional pest management strategies developed and implemented by regional councils and unitary authorities under the Biosecurity Act 1993.
4. Restoration: This involves restoring ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged or destroyed, both on the mainland and on offshore islands. It includes restoration and maintenance of the six approved 'mainland island' sites⁶.
5. Species management: This work delivers management actions to support the survival of populations of threatened species targeted for management. This work is supported by the New Zealand Threat Classification System, and a decision support tool that identifies the most cost-effective means of achieving the intermediate outcome, for the greatest number of species in the shortest space of time (the species optimisation project). It also includes working with the fishing industry to mitigate adverse effects of commercial fishing on protected species.
6. Legal protection: terrestrial and marine protection: Includes formal legal protection of land, and freshwater and marine places. Tools used are purchases, Crown land allocations such as tenure review, riverbed allocations, covenants, kawenata and gifts. The Department also supports landowners to protect natural heritage on their land. This output also protects areas and sites to increase the legal protection for species. This work also implements the Marine Protected Areas Policy. Within that policy, the Department establishes and manages marine reserves.
7. Resource Management Act 1991 advocacy: This work includes encouraging or requiring others to protect places and species with natural, recreational, historic or cultural values that lie outside the formal protected area network. This work helps ensure a full range of places are protected. It includes Resource Management Act responsibilities relating to the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement, regional coastal plans, and other plans that cover the coastal marine area.
8. Historic site management: This work uses direct intervention and integrated management to improve the overall state of a representative range of priority historic sites on public conservation land. 'Integrated management' in this context involves multiple management actions directed at a number of threats and opportunities. Where practical, sites are made more accessible to visitors. Not included are sites where the only management activity is fencing.
9. Participation: This work provides people with ways to make a difference for conservation by giving their time, expertise and/or goods and services. Interventions delivered by the Department include: volunteer programmes; collaboration/partnership programmes (with community groups, tangata whenua, business and other organisations); and supporting others to achieve their own conservation initiatives by sharing skills and knowledge.
10. Education and communication: This work is about helping people to connect with conservation and its full value and benefits through education and communication, and through this, building understanding of, and support for conservation. Interventions delivered by the Department include: working with print, radio and television media, education initiatives, and providing information through the internet, publications and multi-media formats.
11. International obligations: This work involves contributing to international conservation initiatives and obligations through international committees, agreements, and conventions.
12. Recreation management: This work involves providing a range of recreation opportunities to meet the needs of defined visitor groups. Decisions on priority assets are guided by a planning framework, which links the recreation opportunity spectrum with these visitor groups to deliver a range of opportunities to meet the different needs, expectations and abilities of each group. The spectrum runs from urban areas, to remote wilderness sites. This output also delivers up-to-date, accurate, accessible and relevant information in a variety of ways to meet a variety of visitor needs, expectations and abilities. The work delivers a network of managed assets on public conservation lands that include huts, tracks and campsites, structures, roads, car parks and visitor centres.
13. Business opportunities management - recreation concessions: This involves services associated with the provision and management of recreation concessions and concession applications. It includes allowing commercial recreational concessions to operate where they increase the range of recreation opportunities and are compatible with the protection of natural, cultural and historic values and visitors' enjoyment. It includes monitoring and recording any adverse conservation impacts.
14. Business opportunities management - other resource use concessions: This involves services associated with the provision and management of non-recreation concessions and concession applications. It includes allowing non-recreational commercial concessions to operate where they are compatible with the protection of natural, cultural and historic values and visitors' enjoyment. It includes monitoring and recording any adverse conservation impacts.
15. Conservation policy advice: This work covers policy advice, submission services and legislative proposals to the Minister of Conservation, and the Director-General, and to other government agencies. It includes biosecurity strategic and policy advice, and Treaty of Waitangi, and foreshore and seabed negotiation advice.
16. Ministerial services and servicing of statutory and ministerial bodies: This work covers the provision of a correspondence reply, co-ordinating and information service to the Minister of Conservation and the Department. It includes providing services to conservation related statutory and ministerial bodies⁷.

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4. Biosecurity New Zealand is the lead agency for all pre-border, border response and national-scale pest-led work. National-scale work includes work to eradicate or contain pests at a national level.

5. As defined by regional councils and unitary authorities.

6. The six mainland islands are: Trounson Kauri Park Restoration Programme (Northland); Northern Te Urewera Ecosystem Restoration Project (East Coast - Hawke's Bay); Boundary Stream Mainland Island (East Coast - Hawke's Bay); Paengaroa Mainland Island (Wanganui); Hurinui River - South Branch (Canterbury); and Rotoiti Natural Recovery Project (Nelson - Marlborough).

7. The New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA) and the 14 conservation boards are
statutory bodies. The Nature Heritage Fund Committee and Ngä Whenua Rähui Committee are ministerial bodies.

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Figure 1: How the Department's work supports its Outcome and Intermediate Outcomes

View a chart showing how the Department's work supports its Outcome and Intermediate Outcomes (GIF, 34K)

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