POLICIES 8.1 Planning and management in general
8.1(a) Each national park management plan will identify the outcomes planned for places within the national park consistent with the values of those places identified in the planning process set out in Chapter 12.
8.1(b) Opportunities for the benefit, use and enjoyment of each national park will be provided. Where they are provided they should be consistent with the outcomes planned for places.
8.1(c) Planning and management for recreation and other opportunities for the benefit, use and enjoyment of each national park should:
- i) preserve national park values, including natural quiet, as far as possible;
- ii) minimise adverse effects, including cumulative effects, on national park values;
- iii) provide for a range of experiences to enable people with different capabilities, skills and interests to have the opportunity to benefit, use, enjoy, and gain inspiration from national parks; and
- iv) maintain the distinctive character of recreation in New Zealand national parks, including the traditional New Zealand backcountry experience with its ethos of self-reliance.
8.1(d) Each national park management plan should identify:
- i) current recreational opportunities available;
- ii) characteristics of the experience to be preserved;
- iii) current and projected levels of use;
- iv) potential conflicts between different recreational activities; and
- v) contribution to, and compatibility with, the wider network of recreational opportunities in other places.
8.1(e) Recreational opportunities, should be managed using a variety of tools to support the outcomes planned for places, including, but not limited to, zoning and limitations on the number of people or activities, including concessionaires.
8.1(f) The Department should undertake advocacy and work cooperatively with other people and organisations to secure legal and practical access to national parks.
8.1(g) Public access to national parks will be free of charge. Charges may be made for the use of accommodation, facilities and services.
8.1(h) Facilities donated by people and organisations may be sited in a national park consistent with the national park management plan and should:
- i) be for the benefit and use of the public;
- ii) be constructed, maintained and managed to the same standards as similar facilities constructed and maintained by the Department;
- iii) meet the criteria set out in chapter 9 of this General Policy if the facilities are accommodation;
- iv) be consistent with outcomes planned for the place where they are sited; and
- v) minimise adverse impacts on the natural state of the national park; and may contain a discreet plaque identifying the benefactor.
8.1(i) Unformed legal roads within national parks should be closed and the land incorporated into the national park except where they are essential as legal access to other lands.
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