NZCA's advice on stewardship land and assessing net conservation benefit

Updated March 2018

On 2 April 2015, the Minister of Conservation, Hon Maggie Barry, sought the Authority’s advice on ‘guidance on the principles and processes that should be used when making decisions on net conservation benefit’ in the context of land exchanges under section 16A of the Conservation Act 1987, as recommended in the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report Investigating the future of conservation: The case of stewardship land.  In February 2016, the Authority provided advice to Hon Maggie Barry on stewardship land and assessing net conservation benefit. 

In July 2017, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Hawkes Bay Regional Investment Company Limited v Royal Forest and Bird Conservation Society of New Zealand Limited (the Ruataniwha case). This decision has implications for the Authority’s 2016 report and recommendations. Therefore, we have updated report in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.

The information in this report remains relevant to work the Department is currently undertaking to identify a robust framework for expediting the recategorization of stewardship land.

Download the report

Stewardship land and assessing net conservation benefit (PDF, 304K)

In preparing the report, the Authority sought the advice and input of Department staff and considered other approaches such as described in the Crown Minerals Act.