Land-based guided activities
To provide land-based guided activities such as walking, hiking, tramping, climbing, hunting, fishing, biking or motorised vehicles on public conservation land you must have a concession from DOC.

There are a number of tracks in New Zealand that are approved and available for guided walking if certain conditions are met. These are called 'conforming tracks' - see our guided walking (conforming) page for more information.

This application is for land-based activity on tracks that have not been approved as conforming tracks, or, conforming tracks for a term longer than five years

Find out what concession you will need and how to apply for one below if your activity does not involve a conforming track

Pre-application advice

Applying for a concession for the first time can be a little tricky. To ensure your application goes smoothly we advise you to contact us for pre-application advice. We’ll help you to:

  • Understand the concession you will need to apply for.
  • Navigate our statutory planning documents, so you can consider whether the activity you wish to undertake is consistent with them.
  • Understand DOC’s responsibility to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, which requires consultation with Treaty Partners on most applications. If you wish, DOC can help you contact the local iwi, hapū, and whānau to assess whether your proposed activity will have any cultural effects. Often this consultation can enhance the activity you are considering.

Type of concession

Depending on what you want to do and when and how you want to do it, you will either need a one-off concession or a longer-term concession.

One-off concession – for land-based guiding activities held for a period of no longer than three months.

As well as complying with all relevant legislation and conservation plans or strategies your planned activity must:

  • have only minor environmental effects that can easily be managed
  • have clearly defined limits (ie number of trips)
  • not involve permanent structures
  • not take place in the same location more than once in any three year period
  • only take place in one DOC operational region.

Use DOC Maps to check the DOC operational region for your activity.

Longer term concession  – for land-based guiding activities held over a period of longer than three months.

Apply for your concession

Follow the relevant process below for your land-based guided activity. There are additional applications you will need to make if your activity involves anything outside of land-based guiding, such as water or air transport.

One-off activity

Identify the name and status of the public conservation land you wish to use by checking DOC maps.

Longer term activity

Identify the name and status of the public conservation land you wish to use by checking DOC maps.

If your application is approved we will send you a contract which you must sign and return before proceeding with your activity.

Find out more

Find out more about the process and how to prepare your application.

Permissions application process

Preparing a permission application

Timeframe

One-off applications are generally processed in shorter timeframes, dependent on whether iwi consultation is required.

Complex applications could take a number of months to be processed.

How long it takes to process an application

Fees

We charge an application processing fee based on the time required to process your application and staff hourly charge-out rates. Complex applications cost more as they take longer to process. After you apply, we will assign your application to a processing category that reflects its complexity. Each category has a minimum processing fee. The minimum fee for one-off guiding activity is $930 plus GST.

Learn more about processing categories and minimum fees

If you seek pre-application advice we can tell you the category and minimum processing fee that will most likely apply to your application. We will confirm your minimum processing fee once your application is accepted and assigned to a processing category. If we expect your processing fee to exceed the minimum fee, we will give you a non-binding fee estimate before we start work.

We will usually invoice your fee after processing is complete. If you withdraw your application, you will be charged for any work already done.

If your application is approved, ongoing permission fees may apply.

Safety plan

As part of your application you will need an independently audited safety plan.

Additional applications

If your activity involves more than land-based guiding you will need to complete an application form for the relevant additional activity. 

Contact us

For more information or assistance with your land-based guided activity concession contact the nearest of these DOC offices.