Source: Federated Farmers
Federated Farmers is calling for the Government to be bold and continue with plans to modernise New Zealand’s outdated, clunky and overly complicated conservation laws.
“These reforms are long overdue and desperately needed to support conservation efforts and help grow the economy,” says Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Richard Dawkins.
“The current legislation is outdated, unnecessarily restrictive and slow, and has been holding back the country’s conservation ambitions for decades – in fact, we’re rapidly going backwards.
“Despite significantly increased budgets, our conservation estate is being totally overrun by pests, weeds and wilding pines. The case for reform couldn’t be any clearer or more urgent.”
Federated Farmers supports a pragmatic approach to conservation that protects and enhances high-value conservation land while allowing sensible economic decisions.
“The Department of Conservation manages one of the largest public land estates in the world, covering more than eight million hectares,” Dawkins says.
“Unfortunately, conservation isn’t free. Somebody has to do the day-to-day work required to maintain New Zealand’s unique natural landscapes.
“It’s completely unrealistic to expect a government agency to manage weeds, pests, infrastructure needs and fire risk across an estate of that scale by themselves, funded by taxpayers.
“Successful conservation depends on strong partnerships with the people who live alongside the land every day – farmers, hunters, anglers and tourism operators.
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that it’s these same groups who are most passionately supporting the Government’s proposed reforms, because we can see the opportunity.”
Environmental activist groups have been quick to scaremonger in election year, claiming pristine conservation land will be sold off for mining, but Dawkins says that’s “total nonsense”.
“Groups like Forest & Bird and EDS have been running an incredibly divisive campaign of fear that hasn’t been particularly constructive or helpful for the national conversation,” he says.
“I think they’ve lost sight of what this is all about – modernising our conservation system to improve environmental outcomes, reduce the burden for taxpayers and grow the economy.
“There are plenty of economic activities we could be doing on that land with an environmental benefit, including grazing, wild animal recovery operations and tourism.”
Federated Farmers West Coast president Simon Cameron is also a passionate supporter of the Government’s proposed conservation reforms, particularly when it comes to grazing.
“New Zealand can’t conserve more than eight million hectares of conservation land through passive protection alone. It requires active management,” Cameron says.
“If we truly want to see better long-term conservation outcomes for future generations of New Zealanders, then we can’t afford to let ideology or politics get in the way of pragmatism.
“In practice, this will require a fundamental shift in thinking to recognise that a ‘lock up and leave’ approach to conservation – excluding people from the landscape – simply doesn’t work.
“Instead, we should be recognising the role of active, practical management like grazing in improving biodiversity, managing pests and protecting our famous natural landscapes.”
Cameron says that, since 1990, the Department of Conservation has inherited and retired 1.2 million hectares of land that was previously grazed – but it’s since gone backwards.
“That land was absolutely immaculate when it was actively managed by farmers who kept on top of the weeds and pests – like you’d see on a postcard,” Cameron says.
“Those farmers were outstanding stewards of the land, but they also contributed significantly to the economy producing world-class beef, lamb and wool.
“Unfortunately, when the farmers moved out, the pests and weeds moved in. That land has since been taken over by wilding pines, gorse, deer, pigs, wallabies and goats.”
Cameron says huge areas of our high country were retired because they had significant conservation value, but that value didn’t develop in the absence of human contact.
“The value was created by generations of farmers who invested time and money in protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations,” he says.
“They weren’t just grazing livestock. They were also fencing, hunting, maintaining tracks and controlling weeds. These are all important conservation activities that were lost.”
Cameron is scathing of the environmental activist groups who have tried to play politics and derail long-overdue conservation reforms.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable that, after years of work, anyone would be calling for the entire bill to be thrown in the bin,” he says.
“Surely everyone can agree the current system simply isn’t delivering the outcomes New Zealanders expect, and that change is needed to modernise our laws.
“It’s time those groups put the politics aside, stop playing petty games, and start working alongside the rest of us who are trying to do the right thing for the country.”