Forest & Bird Maps reveal where conservation land could be sold off after government reforms

The parts of the country where conservation land will become easier to sell off are revealed in new maps produced by a lobby group.

The proposed changes in the Government’s Conservation Amendment Bill affect up to 60 percent of current conservation land. It would become possible for land in these areas to be exchanged or “disposed” by selling off, as long as it’s not important for threatened species and it doesn’t contain the best examples of wildlife or plants of its type in the area.

Forest & Bird, which has produced detailed maps of potentially impacted areas, says New Zealanders will be “furious” over the plans. But Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has said the bill recognises “conservation and economic development do not sit in opposition to one another all the time”. Neither Potaka nor the Department of Conservation (DOC) commented on the maps yesterday, after they were shared with his office by RNZ.