The Department of Conservation (DOC) invests heavily in the construction and maintenance of an extensive portfolio of visitor assets to support recreational opportunities on public conservation lands and waters (PCL&W). Each year, these assets undergo continual inspection and maintenance to ensure they continue to meet the expectations of visitors. For three significant categories of assets (Structures, Huts and Tracks), performance targets exist to ensure DOC’s obligations under the Statement of Intent are met. Meeting these standards also ensures that these assets remain safe for the public to use. As the following graphs and tables show, this capital investment is spread across many sites throughout the entire country.
DOC uses the Destination Management Framework (DMF) to inform its management of these key visitor assets at the site level. Under DMF, all visitor sites are categorised into one of four categories, with each category developed to meet the needs of a different primary user group. No category is more or less important than another. Each category informs the management of the destination by guiding where to focus efforts to gain the best return for meeting the needs of the primary user group. (see ‘Definitions and Methodology’ section below for an explanation of the DMF categories).
The number of structures managed and maintained for visitor use has slightly decreased -1.8% over the last three years. Even with this slight decrease, the performance target of 95% has been almost reached in all years. Figure 1 shows the change in the percentage of Structures ‘To Standard’ since 2017.
Figure 1: Percentage of Structures ‘To Standard’ by Region and Financial Year. The graph can be customised by selecting/deselecting Regions from the legend. Hovering over year points on the graph reveals additional information.
The number of huts managed and maintained for visitor use in 2019 has decreased to 87.9%, close to the level in 2017. However, the 90% performance target was reached in 2018. Figure 2 shows the change in percentage of Huts ‘To Standard’ since 2017.
Figure 2: Percentage of Huts ‘To Standard’ by Region and Financial Year. The graph can be customised by selecting/deselecting Regions from the legend. Hovering over year points on the graph reveals additional information.
DOC manages 14631.3 km of tracks for use by visitors to PCL. This represents an -1.3% decrease in the length of track managed between 2017 and 2019. The performance target of 45% has been exceeded during 2017-2019. Figure 3 shows the change in percentage of Tracks “To Standard” since 2017.
Figure 3: Percentage of Tracks ‘To Standard’ by Region and Financial Year. The graph can be customised by selecting/deselecting Regions from the legend. Hovering over year points on the graph reveals additional information.
For a more detailed schedule of visitor assets subject to standard, see Table 1 below. This interactive table displays all the specific data that informs Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
Table 1: Schedule of Assets by Region and Type. The table can be customised by selecting one or more search parameters from the menus in the Region, AssetType, Financial Year, and To Standard (%) fields.
The four DMF categories are:
Icon – these sites are developed to support the growth of domestic and international tourism.
Gateway – these destinations are developed to introduce new participants and to grow recreation in the outdoors.
Local Treasures – these destinations are managed to grow community connection with, and use of, their locally important places.
Backcountry – these destinations are places where people can do a range of outdoor activities, be self-reliant and close to nature.
The data used in this report is compiled from the Asset Management Information System (AMIS).
This report relates to the following ‘Outcomes Monitoring Framework’ (OMF) Indicator and Measures for ‘Intermediate Outcome 3: New Zealanders and our visitors are enriched by outdoor experiences’:
The Department of Conservation’s (DOC’s) Outcomes Monitoring Framework provides a platform on which DOC and others can assess outcomes in a clear, structured and transparent way (Lee et al., 2005). It has been developed as a logical hierarchy that is based on broad, overarching Outcomes, beneath which are nested Outcome Objectives, Indicators, Measures and Data Elements to provide ever increasing levels of detail. The framework is scalable, as the indicators and measures remain compatible and consistent whether applied locally, regionally or nationally. The recently updated framework provides a roadmap for gathering information to meet the specific objectives of DOC and other agencies (McGlone and Dalley, 2015). The provision of a national framework with agreed outcomes, indicators and measures supports collaboration with land management and regulatory agencies, allowing for more integrated environmental policy and ‘State of the Environment’ reporting. DOC has partially implemented a national monitoring and reporting system, whereby priority indicators and measures are routinely used to report on progress against the objectives and outcomes. This factsheet reports on a measure for the 2016/17 year.
Lee, W., McGlone, M., Wright, E., 2005. Biodiversity inventory and monitoring: A review of national and international systems and a proposed framework for future biodiversity monitoring by the Department of Conservation. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0405/122 (unpublished) for the Department of Conservation, Wellington.
McGlone, M., Dalley, J., 2015. A framework for Department of Conservation inventory and monitoring: Intermediate outcomes 1-5. Landcare Research Contract Report LC2427 (unpublished) for the Department of Conservation, Wellington.