Introduction

NZCA Chair, Edward Ellison ONZM, gives an update on the latest meeting.

New Zealand Conservation Authority meeting December 2023

The Authority held its latest meeting on 22 and 23 February at Conservation House in Wellington. It looks like it will be a busy year for the Authority as we kicked off 2024 with a robust agenda and a number of significant matters to be discussed, which are described in greater detail below.I would like to extend our thanks, on behalf of the Authority, to Conservation Board Chairs for their careful and thoughtful consideration with regard to conservation board nominations. Your feedback has been received via your Authority liaison person, and will contribute to the advice that is provided to the Minister by the Department.

Review of the General Policy for National Parks

This session included reviewing the work previously done by the Authority in 2017-18 to initiate a review of GPNP (which ultimately was not progressed), and to determine if the review should be re-ignited. The Authority decided to further investigate the viability of initiating a review.

Te Mana o Te Taiao Implementation (TMoTT) Update

Department staff provided an interesting and useful update on the implementation of TMoTT. The Authority advised staff on various points regarding the implementation, and look forward to seeing further progress at the next six-monthly update.

SLT Strategic Session

Unfortunately, Penny Nelson was not available to join the Authority meeting due to other commitments, however, Lena Sapunova (Director of the D-G’s office) was present at the session to deliver Penny’s update on her behalf. The Authority were interested in the new longer format of the Environment Select Committee. The Select Committee is taking place on 7 March and is available to view via the Parliament website.
Ruth Isaac, Deputy Director-General Policy and Regulatory Services, joined the meeting later in the day, and provided updates to the Authority on the government priorities. The Authority will have a session at a future meeting (most likely in June) on the Treaty Settlement End to End Review Project which the Department is undertaking.

Determination of status of Wapiti in Fiordland National Park

The Department asked the Authority to consider initiating a process to consider a limited determination to clarify that the Fiordland National Park Management Plan provides an exemption from the s 4(2)(b) requirement in relation to community management of introduced animals, specifically deer, within the Wapiti Area.
The Authority sought clarification on several issues before considering the matter further; this item will be discussed again in the near future.

NZCA's S4 Obligations

The Authority have approved the NZCA’s s4 Obligations paper. The paper sets out the Authority’s s4 responsibilities, guides their actions to give effect to s4, and sets out some regular s4 reporting from DOC. This will be available for Conservation Boards to view in the near future.

Conservation Board Nominations

The Authority discussed board nominations and their recommendations for appointments, and members relayed the recommendations of the Conservation Board Chair for which they are a liaison.

 

No reira

Nāku iti noa, nā

Edward Ellison ONZM
Chairperson NZCA

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