Summary
This report describes land protection priorities for nature conservation in Canterbury. The primary purpose of this report is to assist the Nature Heritage Fund and other agencies with the allocation of resources for the protection of land not already formally protected. Information about land protection priorities will help ensure that limited funds are allocated in a way that provides the greatest benefits for nature conservation.
The area covered by this report lies in the Department of Conservation's Canterbury Conservancy. The Conservancy covers the area between the Conway and upper Clarence rivers in the north; the main divide of the Southern Alps in the west; the lower Waitaki River and southern boundary of the Waitaki Basin in the south; and, the Pacific Ocean in the east. It includes the broad Canterbury Plains, the foothills and low mountains that border the plains in north and south Canterbury, the extensive intermontane basins and ranges of the eastern South Island high country, and the rugged snow-clad eastern flank of the central Southern Alps. The Conservancy lies within the rohe of Ngai Tahu.
A summary of the presumed nature and extent of the original (pre-human) vegetation of Canterbury Conservancy is presented in the first part (Section 3) of this report. The indigenous vegetation of each of the 591 ecological districts that lie wholly or partly within the Conservancy is then described (Section 4). The method used for these descriptions is outlined in Section 2.
In Section 5 of the report, the information presented in Section 4 is analysed to illustrate the extent to which different types of indigenous vegetation are present within existing protected natural areas. Priorities for further protection of indigenous vegetation that would help achieve a protected natural areas system that is more representative of the vegetation originally present in the Conservancy are also described.
Section 6 presents criteria to help determine the relative value of land protection proposals. The final section of the report (Section 7) presents a four-point Land Protection Strategy to assist the Nature Heritage Fund in the allocation of funds for further protection in Canterbury Conservancy.
This report covers all terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands within Canterbury Conservancy. It does not cover coastal (below mean high water spring) and marine ecosystems, or water bodies such as lakes and rivers.
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