Selling Conservation Land Is Exploitative And Out Of Step With The Values Of Kiwis – Forest And Bird

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka today announced the Government is progressing with its Modernising Conservation Land Management proposals, including a new National Conservation Policy Statement.

“Public conservation land must remain protected so Kiwis can enjoy our incredible landscapes and precious native wildlife,” says Forest & Bird Chief Executive Nicola Toki. “We should not be making it easier to sell off conservation land for commercial gain.”

The consultation document proposes making around five million hectares of public conservation land available for exchange or disposal if deemed ‘surplus’ or to ‘support other government priorities’.

“Forest & Bird is urging the Government to abandon plans that threaten the future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public conservation land, including short-sighted proposals that would make it easier to sell off or commercially exploit these areas.”

“The Government is attempting to quietly offload our conservation land, without a mandate, without public consultation, and without any signal before the election that this was on the agenda.

“This feels less like policy and more like an international online auction of the very places that define who we are. We don’t want a three-year term killing off over three billion years of natural evolution.”

The proposal also undermines independent checks and weakens ecological protections.

“These reforms represent the most significant weakening of conservation law in a generation,” says Ms Toki. “They shift the focus from protection to exploitation, dismantling the very purpose of our national parks and conservation lands.

“This increases pressure on vulnerable species, reduces our ability to respond to site-specific conservation needs, and risks turning the Department of Conservation into a land-use manager rather than a protector of nature.

“Our national parks are not theme parks, they are taonga with deep cultural and ecological significance.

“New Zealand needs evidence-based conservation policy with independent oversight. We must avoid ministerial overreach and poorly informed national policy changes.

“New Zealand already has the highest proportion of threatened species in the world. In a warming climate, it’s more important than ever to protect, restore, and expand our forests and wetlands, not sell them off or expose them to increased tourism pressure.

“The only growth we should be seeing is in populations of the 4000 native species that are threatened or at risk of extinction.

“This is not conservation reform. It’s conservation retreat. Our laws should uphold the promise to protect nature for its own sake, for future generations, and for all those who hold these places dear.”