Competitive allocation process for commercial activities in Rangitahi/Molesworth Recreation Reserve

DOC will be running a competitive allocation process for farming and commercial opportunities in the Molesworth Recreation Reserve, ahead of the existing farming lease expiring.

Background

Rangitahi/Molesworth is an iconic drylands landscape with a rich history, deep cultural significance and hugely important biodiversity values. At 180,787 ha, Molesworth Recreation Reserve is slightly larger than Stewart Island and larger than 10 of the 13 National Parks.

There is a long history of farming in the reserve. Rangitahi/Molesworth was transferred to DOC’s management as public conservation land in 2005. This was preceded by a farming lease being put in place under the Land Act for Landcorp Farming Ltd (trading as Pāmu Farms of New Zealand) to farm the reserve.

This lease is due to expire 30 June 2026 and ahead of this DOC wants to confirm the next farming and commercial arrangements, which may include other commercial opportunities like tourism. DOC wants to consider the future of these concessions within Rangitahi/Molesworth in a fair and consistent manner, by way of a competitive process.

All land and water-based commercial activity on public conservation land requires a concession issued by DOC under the Conservation Act and any new lease or license will be under this Act. This will have better recognition of the special ecological, recreation and heritage values of the reserve, and may allow for better public access.

The 2013 management plan for the Molesworth Recreation Reserve remains active and the competitive process will be run in accordance with this plan and the Conservation Act.

To ensure appropriate interest is received and considered together within a competitive process, DOC has decided pursuant to s17ZG(2)(a) of the Conservation Act to invite interest later in 2025. This means that pursuant to s17R(2)(a), no new concession applications will be accepted for commercial activities in Rangitahi/Molesworth (other than ‘one-offs’) in the meantime outside of this process.

Competitive process

DOC is currently designing the competitive allocation process. This webpage will be kept updated as the process progresses.

DOC is defining the scope of the opportunities to be offered, including appropriate farming, to ensure it’s commercially viable while protecting the ecological, recreational and cultural values that make the Rangitahi/Molesworth such a special place.

The scoping work will also look at whether tourism, recreation and other commercial opportunities are appropriate.

The scope will be based on DOC advice on the biodiversity, heritage, visitor and cultural values of Rangitahi/Molesworth and commercial advice to ensure it’s self-sustainable into the future. DOC is engaging with iwi about the cultural values of Rangitahi/Molesworth. DOC is also seeking advice from the Molesworth Steering Committee to inform development of the competitive allocation process.

Once the scope and selection process are determined, DOC will publicly invite interest. Following the selection of a preferred operator or operators, they will be invited to apply for a concession or concessions. Any preferred farming proposal will be publicly notified. The mechanism for fairly assessing applications and selecting the preferred operator(s) is being developed and more details will be provided later.

Relevant legislation

DOC is required to consider concessions in accordance with legislation and relevant statutory documents. These include:

Section 4 of the Conservation Act, to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
Part 3B of the Conservation Act
Conservation General Policy
2013 Molesworth Management Plan

Timeline

The timeline is to be confirmed. We will invite interest later in 2025 and intend to have a new operator or operators confirmed with enough time to allow a transition from Pāmu if required.

Fees

There will be no fee to submit interest when publicly invited.

Fees will be charged for processing concession applications arising from the competitive allocation process to be run later this year.

Concessions granted as a result of the allocation process will be subject to ongoing fees. These may include an annual management fee, activity fees, and fees to monitor the effects of the activity and compliance with authorised terms and conditions.

Rent, fees, and royalties for a concession will be reviewed at intervals not exceeding 3 years.

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