Statutory role for management planning and land status
Strategic priority (A&B) - Conservation Management Strategies (A) and National Park Management Plans (B)
NZCA role:
Review, approve, and champion improvements to the planning framework to ensure timeliness and quality of the planning process
NZCA Goals:
- Approve strategy/plan at the third meeting after receipt.
- Improve efficacy of approval processes.
NZCA Actions:
- Follow NZCA approval processes (and seek opportunities to expedite timelines, whilst holding or improving the quality of decisions).
- Continue to push for better, more dynamic and responsive plans, and smarter planning processes.
- Ensure CMSs and NPMPs align with the Department’s Intermediate Outcomes and 2025 Stretch Goals.
- Ensure Operations staff undertake their work in conformity with the Statutory Plans.
Strategic priority (C) - Land Status recategorisation (e.g.stewardship land)
NZCA role:
Recommendatory / statutory (for national parks) and advisory (for all conservation lands).
NZCA Goal:
Conduct a credible and transparent investigation and provide a report with clear recommendations for action.
NZCA Actions:
- Ensure the process and decision for land recategorisation is credible and robust; and that this is apparent to all stakeholders, including consultation with iwi at the inception of the process.
- Support the relevant conservation board on specific land recategorisation matters.
- Provide advice on future tenure reviews under the Land Act 1948, Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998, and Overseas Investment Act 2005 / Office processes.
- Advise on a strategy/programme for prioritising stewardship land reclassifications.
Strategic priority (D) - Treaty of Waitangi and post-Treaty settlement conservation management
NZCA role:
Meet requirements for NZCA as specified in settlement legislation; give on-going effect to the principles of the Treaty (per Section 4 and General Policies); provide advice in response to requests from settlement negotiation parties; evaluate and provide feedback on novel post-Treaty settlement approaches to achieving conservation outcomes.
NZCA Goals:
- Ensure Conservation Act 1987 section 4 considerations are appropriately addressed in the updated General Policy for National Parks and that the procedures for this are updated with learnings from Treaty settlements.
- Demonstrate openness and good faith when giving advice (if consulted) on alternative models for conservation oversight and management.
NZCA Actions:
- Maintain open and ongoing communication with iwi leaders.
- Implement NZCA’s section 4 template (including revisions), and review the Authority’s performance in relation to this annually.
- Ensure the Department develops an effective strategy for building relationships with iwi.
- Receive updates from the Department on their implementation of the Ngāi Tai decision.
- Develop our cultural competency as an Authority.
Influence and step change opportunities
Strategic priority (E) - Strategic advice to the Minister and DG in the context of conservation in today’s economy, the governance requirements, and strategic advice on public policy documents and legislation.
NZCA role:
Advisory.
NZCA Goal:
Be respected as an independent, and influential source of strategic advice for conservation.
NZCA Actions:
- Give clear, considered and timely advice: on all matters, relevant to the NZCA effectively fulfilling its functions; and, where this can be influential in achieving better conservation outcomes.
- Maintain an active environmental scan to ensure the current and future operating context for conservation is well understood.
- Maintain active links with conservation boards and the community, actively seek improved quality of conservation board nominees.
- Follow up on submissions and advice to gauge their influence and identify where improvements in this role can be made.
- Provide regular monitoring of and advice to achieve the Department’s Stretch Goals and the Intermediate Outcomes objectives.
Strategic priority (F) - Opportunities for step change in conservation
NZCA role:
Advise and advocate for the effective management of pests and weeds affecting native biodiversity.
NZCA Goal:
Better understand, protect, enhance and appreciate New Zealand’s native terrestrial biodiversity.
NZCA Actions:
- Provide strategic advice to the Director-General and the Minister.
- Support the evaluation and, where appropriate field assessment, of gene drive and other novel technologies that could help New Zealand become predator free by 2050.
- Provide advice on securing and/or sustaining a social licence to responsibly use efficient pest and weed control technologies
- Continue to encourage the Department to undertake and sustain large-scale animal pest controland progress toward complete eradication of mammalian predators from large areas, such as Rakiura.
- Encourage the Department to actively manage other threats to native biodiversity such as kauri dieback (PTA) disease and myrtle rust, and to take a strong stance on biosecurity in general.
- Advocacy for conservation on private land.
- Encourage the Department to undertake and sustain landscape-scale plant pest and weed control, such as wilding pines eradication, and introduced wild animal control, such as deer, tahr, pigs, and wallabies.
Strategic priority (G) - Visitor management on public conservation lands and waters
NZCA role:
Advise and advocate.
NZCA Goal:
Manage and mitigate the activities of domestic and international visitors on public conservation land.
NZCA Actions
- Advise the Department on the implementation of its Visitor Strategy and the DOC/MBIE Tourism Strategy.
- Ensure the concessions framework for tourism activities on public conservation land is fit for purpose.
- Review the resilience and capabilities of conservation land for providing for visitors at specific sites, especially pressure points.
- Work with other key stakeholders that have an interest in the tourism industry, e.g. TIA, MBIE, local government.
- Provide input into the future of international visitors to New Zealand e.g. via the Tourism Futures Taskforce.
- Establish a Tourism Committee to develop and advocate a position on visitors to the conservation estate
Advocacy on nationally significant issues for conservation
Strategic priority (H) - Climate change adaption and mitigation
NZCA role:
Advise and advocate.
NZCA Goal:
Assess the implications of, and opportunities arising from, climate change and ensure conservation planning and expenditure priorities.
NZCA Actions:
- Highlight the role of conservation in mitigating and adapting to climate change; and the means to reduce the risks of climate change to biodiversity and the Department’s infrastructure and management of capital assets.
- Show leadership with respect to landscape scale pest and weed control and its contribution as a mitigating factor – improving ecosystem health/ resilience.
- Monitor the implementation of DOC’s Climate Change Adaption Action Plan (CCAAP).
Strategic priority (I) - Rivers and freshwater ecosystems
NZCA role:
Advise and advocate.
NZCA Goal:
Be an advocate for ecosystem services that public conservation land provides to New Zealanders, with respect to values of our waterways and waterbodies.
NZCA Actions:
- Maintain active advocacy for the comprehensive protection of a representative range of rivers.
- Use the NZCA River Report (2011) and other national freshwater management initiatives as a basis for advocacy for freshwater ecosystem management.
- Provide strategic advice on the management of whitebait and other endangered freshwater species such as the longfin eel.
- Ensure DOC’s environmental strategies align with the National Policy Statement for Freshwater and its successors.
Strategic priority (J) - Marine ecosystems and protected areas
NZCA role:
Advise and advocate.
NZCA Goal:
Contribute to the better protection of the marine environment and biodiversity.
NZCA Actions:
- Actively engage with all stakeholders on Marine Protected Areas and how to protect a representative range of habitats and species.
- Encourage the Department to investigate the Snares, Three Kings and Chathams for marine protection and implement follow-up steps from this.
- Maintain a watching brief on the growing/expanding marine aquaculture industry and monitor development and its impacts on marine ecosystems.
- Maintain oversight of threatened species marine by-catch and the effectiveness of monitoring of bycatch on fishing vessels, especially through the use of cameras.
- Encourage consideration of the Kermadecs for protection.
- File a submission for the Marine Protected Areas Discussion Document.
Monitoring and evaluation
Strategic priority (K) - Effectiveness and efficiency of the Department’s conservation management
NZCA role:
Review and advise.
NZCA Goals:
- Fulfil statutory function (CA 6B(c)) to review and report on the Department’s administration of General Policies.
- Provide insightful evaluation and advice that contributes to improved conservation outcomes.
- Provide a ‘check and balance’ on the Department’s strategic planning.
NZCA Actions:
- Monitor the progress of the General Policy for National Parks Review work.
- Ensure General Policies are implemented in CMSs and NPMPs (via approval role - see A&B), and Milestone reporting is undertaken.
- Provide advice on the Department’s Statement of Intent.
- Provide advice to the Minister of Conservation and Director-General on budget and priority spending.
- Provide advice to the Department on how business, volunteer groups, and communities can engage with them more easily in order to increase conservation outcomes.
Strategic priority (L) - NZCA's performance
NZCA role:
Self-review
NZCA Goal:
Effect continuous improvement to achieve greater value and impact.
NZCA Actions:
- Undertake annual self-review of performance and modus operandi.
- Regularly review and update the NZCA policies and principles.
- Work on a process to ensure better communications between conservation boards and the NZCA.
- Produce an Annual Report for year ending 30 June 2021.
- Learn the waiata ‘I hū ahau e hine’.