You may have heard by now that the Government have dropped the Conservation Amendment Bill (CAB) – and that it is terrible.
So – what is it? And why is it terrible?
Conservation Land is publicly owned land that is managed by the Department of Conservation for the purposes of conservation. Know colloquially as DOC land, or PCL, some 30% of Aotearoa New Zealand is in this catagory; different areas serve different purposes, ranging from strict biodiversity protection to public recreation, the land is divided into several specific legal categories. National Parks are some off our most protected, and there is also Conservation Parks, Stewardship Areas, Wildlife Management Areas, Nature Reserves, Scientific Reserves, Scenic Reserves, Sanctuary Areas, Wildlife Refuges and others*1 … a few have a high level of protection, but most will be vulnerable to this legislation!
Many of our most loved forests are conservation land. Rivers often originate in conservation land, and run through it out to beaches Aotearoa New Zealand is famous for. Conservation land is home to all of the unique biodiversity that we all know and love- and that many of us work hard (and put money in to) to protect. Whether you live on a farm, in the city or towns, public conservation land gives us all an opportunity to be in nature, to appreciate osome of the most significant aspects of what makes Aotearoa New Zealand what is. And how lucky are we to even have them?
Yet now, with no mandate, and very little reason, the Luxon Government want to make it easier to make money from – rather than spending money to ensure it is there for future generations. The CAB would ‘streamline’ the concessions process, making it easier to get access toDOC land for businesses, including creating a list of pre-approved activities that wouldn’t need to apply, or would automatically be given a permit if they apply, introduce a mandatory consideration of economic benefits the purpose of the Act, meaning that all decision makers would have to not only consider conservation but also if there are economic benefits from an application, and, perhaps the most dangerous, a provision that would enable DOC land to be sold or exchanged unless it is the ‘best example’ of a threatened species habitat, or of it’s type.
This would apply to all but the most protected areas – that would be some 60% of the public conservation estate of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Here in Hauraki Coromandel, nearly 40% (78,000 hectares) of the land is covered by Conservation Land, nearly all of that is in the Coromandel Forest Park. Under the current legislation, a significant tract of that – all that that is North of the Kopu-Hikuai Hikuai Road – is protected from mining by Schedule 4 of the Crown Minerals Act; this legislation, if it were to pass, would undermine that, and effectively mean that a mining company could simply buy, or even swap, land for conservation land and then mine it.
This Bill is worse even than the Fast Track Approvals Act, which has also left some areas vulnerable, and is generally bad law. Like that Act, this Bill seeks to effectively shut iwi, hapu, whanau out – providing only for short timeframes for ‘comment’. Most opportunity comes in the newly introduced ‘Area Plans’, although again, these windows for comment are short, and restricted. It is the same for wider community participation.
Given that currently some 90% of concessions are granted, and only around 2% (so some 40-50 applications) per year are declined, it is hard to understand that there is any motivation for this beyond straight up economic ‘opportunity’,. This is shallow and short term thinking. The conservation estate in Aotearoa New Zealand is priceless; it is at the heart of what gives us the ‘clean green’ image that others so covet. It is the backdrop for the marketing for almost every other industry we rely on. But more importantly, it is the true part of this country that has survived the onslaughts of humanity.
As the saying goes, we borrow this world from our children, and we do not want to leave them an empty landscape, a country devoid of the very biodiversity that makes us unique, that sustains us.
Yes, from an economic perspective this is a shocker – selling off a public asset for private gain is a lesson we surely learnt during the privatisation of the 1980’s/! But beyond that, and more importantly, this wold be like selling our soul, our heart. And once it is gone, it is gone…. so, join with us in saying a big, loud HELL NO to this Bill.
Make your submission before July 2, get ready to march (organising happening now) and have those conversations with all your peeps – both here and overseas. Aotearoa is not for sale!
*1 Historic Reserves, Recreation Reserves, Marginal Strips, Watercourse Areas, Amenity Areas, Wildlife Management Areas, Nature Reserves, Scientific Reserves, Scenic Reserves, Historic Reserves, Recreation Reserves, Government Purpose Reserves, Local Purpose Reserves, Wilderness Areas, Ecological Areas, Specially Protected Areas, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Wildlife Management Reserves