Part 3: The Department of Conservation’s strategic planning for land

3.1
In this Part, we describe:

• why strategic planning is important;
• our expectations for strategic planning;
• the Department’s statutory policies and objectives for land; and
• the Department’s non-statutory strategies and plans for land.

3.2
We then set out our conclusions.

Why is strategic planning important?

3.3
The Department manages a significant portion of the country’s total land mass. Clear, comprehensive, and co-ordinated strategic planning for all the land the Department manages would serve several broad purposes. It would:

• identify roles and responsibilities of the Department;
• identify land types of strategic importance;
• identify strategic objectives for land;
• provide for the co-ordinated implementation of relevant national statutory policies and objectives throughout the Department;
• provide for consistency and co-ordination in planning and management processes throughout the Department;
• facilitate a co-ordinated approach to other related national strategies and policies; and
• provide guidance to external stakeholders about the Department’s land planning objectives.

3.4
The Department manages a variety of publicly owned land, under different pieces of legislation. The legislation sets out particular roles and responsibilities in planning for and managing the land. These roles and responsibilities may be different for different types of land or different activities. Clearly identifying the Department’s roles and responsibilities in national strategic planning for land is important to ensure that statutory obligations are met.

3.5
Although protected under legislation, not all of the land the Department manages is of high conservation value. Conversely, not all land of high conservation value is looked after by the Department. Identifying those land types currently managed by the Department that are of particular strategic importance would ensure that priorities were focused suitably, and that resources were effectively used. Broadly identifying those land types of high conservation value outside the land protected under legislation would help in setting priorities for the Department’s land management, as well as other work (such as advocacy, public awareness, and community engagement).

3.6
Legislative requirements dictate how the Department manages the land it is responsible for. Given the variety of land the Department manages, clear and measurable strategic objectives would provide direction for land management priorities.

3.7
The Department’s statutory policies and objectives direct how it manages the land. Strategic land planning would provide for the co-ordinated implementation of these policies and objectives throughout the Department.

3.8
There are some government-wide strategies and plans the Department is involved in preparing and carrying out with other central government agencies, including the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy. Strategic land planning would help inform and facilitate the Department’s approach and contribution to such strategies and plans.

3.9
Finally, clear and comprehensive strategic planning for land serves as a tool to involve stakeholders, and make clear to them the Department’s strategic objectives and priorities for land.

Our expectations

3.10
We prepared expectations about strategic land planning and then assessed the Department’s performance against the expectations. We looked at the Department’s long-term goals and objectives for land within its:

• statutory policies and objectives; and
• non-statutory strategies and plans.

3.11
We expected the Department to have comprehensive strategic national planning for land. We expected this planning to be coherent, clear, recorded, and accessible.

3.12
We reviewed the Department’s statements of general policy, conservation management strategies, national park management plans, and national strategic plans.

Statutory policies and objectives for land

3.13
The Department’s statutory policies and objectives for land are included at a national level within the statements of general policy, and at a conservancy level within conservation management strategies and national park management plans.

The Department of Conservation’s statements of general policy

3.14
Statements of general policy provide the Department with broad national direction for preparing integrated conservation management objectives for areas, or places identified in conservation management strategies and national park management plans. Statements of general policy also provide direction for undertaking land transactions.

3.15
The Conservation General Policy and General Policy for National Parks contain policies that reflect aspects of integrated conservation management of natural resources, historic and cultural heritage, and recreational opportunities by referring to outcomes planned for places. Those places are identified in conservation management strategies and national park management plans.

3.16
The Conservation General Policy says that land acquisition or exchange may be undertaken by the Department where the acquisition or exchange will either:

• improve representativeness of public conservation land; or
• improve the natural functioning or integrity of places; or
• improve the amenity or utility of places; or
• prevent significant loss of natural resources or historical and cultural heritage areas; or
• improve the natural linkages between places; or
• secure practical walking access to public conservation lands and waters, rivers, lakes, or the coast; or
• achieve any other purpose allowed for under the relevant Acts.

3.17
The policy says that the Department may consider disposing of land where the legislation allows for disposal and the land has no, or low, conservation values.

3.18
The General Policy for National Parks says that land recommended for national park status will contain, for its intrinsic worth and for the benefit, use, and enjoyment of the public, the following:

• scenery of such distinctive quality that its preservation is in the national interest; or
• ecosystems or natural features so beautiful, unique, or scientifically important that their preservation is in the national interest.

3.19
The statements of general policy meet some aspects of our expectations for national strategic planning for land. While the statements do not set long-term goals and objectives for land, they provide national guidance for setting up such objectives in conservation management strategies. By their nature, the statements of general policy provide for consistency in approaches to dealing with particular land planning and management issues, and convey this to stakeholders.

Preparing and reviewing conservation management strategies and national park management plans

3.20
Under the Conservation Act 1987 and National Parks Act 1980, the Department must prepare and review conservation management strategies and national park management plans. The strategies and plans must be reviewed within 10 years of being approved by the New Zealand Conservation Authority.

3.21
The Department has not prepared all conservation management strategies and national park management plans within statutory timeframes.

3.22
The Department has not completed the West Coast Conservation Management Strategy, which should have been completed by 1995. The Department has identified the Cave Creek tragedy, and extra responsibilities for the conservancy arising from the transfer of indigenous forest from Timberlands West Coast Limited in 2001 and 2002, as part of the reason for the delay.

3.23
The Department has not reviewed the Auckland or Hawke’s Bay¹ conservation management strategies within 10 years of them first being approved. The Department has received approval from the Minister of Conservation to extend the review period for both conservation management strategies.

3.24
The Department has not completed the Rakiura National Park Management Plan. The Rakiura National Park was gazetted in February 2002, and the Department should have prepared a management plan by February 2004.

3.25
Seven of 14 national park management plans have yet to be reviewed, even though more than 10 years have passed since the management plans were first approved. Six of the 7 are reported by the Department as being under review. In March 2006, the most overdue plan was the Abel Tasman National Park Management Plan, which the Department should have reviewed by July 1996. The least overdue were the management plans for Mount Aspiring and Arthur’s Pass National Parks, which the Department should have reviewed by October 2004.

3.26
Conservation management strategies and national park management plans are required by legislation. The New Zealand Conservation Authority has expressed concern to the Department that conservation management strategies are not always given the priority they deserve. As these strategies and plans provide for integrated conservation management, and the strategies must contain objectives for land, we consider that the Department should give priority to finalising conservation management strategies and national park management plans that were not prepared or reviewed within statutory timeframes.

Objectives within conservation management strategies

3.27
The Conservation Act 1987 requires that conservation management strategies contain objectives for the integrated management of natural and historic resources, and for recreation, tourism, and other conservation purposes for all areas covered in the strategies. In addition, the National Parks Act 1980 requires that conservation management strategies set up management objectives for any national parks within the area covered by the strategies.

3.28
The conservation management strategies we reviewed contained management objectives broadly consistent with the Conservation Act 1987.

3.29
Conservancies took different approaches to the amount of detail in the objectives within conservation management strategies, and how they were set out. All of the strategies contained general objectives for the whole conservancy. The Hawke’s Bay Conservation Management Strategy and the draft West Coast Conservation Management Strategy also contained objectives for each of the Areas within the respective conservancies.

3.30
It was not always clear how general objectives for the whole conservancy would be applied to particular parts of, or places in, each conservancy.

3.31
Te Urewera National Park is within the East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservancy. The West Coast Tai Poutini Conservancy includes the Paparoa and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks, and parts of the Arthur’s Pass, Mount Aspiring, and Kahurangi National Parks. Objectives for each national park within the East Coast and West Coast Conservation Management Strategies were limited. While cross-references in the East Coast Conservation Management Strategy identify the general objectives that apply to Te Urewera National Park, it was not always clear how the general objectives for the West Coast Tai Poutini Conservancy applied to the national parks in that conservancy.

3.32
After an internal review of conservation management strategies in 2001, the Department prepared guidance to address issues of consistency and clarity in preparing conservation management strategies. The Department is preparing further guidance to help conservancies prepare conservation management strategies consistent with the statements of general policy adopted in 2005.

Objectives within national park management plans

3.33
The National Parks Act 1980 sets out the purpose for which national parks are created, and this provides direction for park management. In addition, this Act requires that national park management plans shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of any relevant conservation management strategy. The Act does not require specific management objectives to be contained in national park management plans.

3.34
The national park management plans we reviewed for Te Urewera and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks contained clear management objectives. The management plans contained management objectives consistent with the direction for park management from the National Parks Act, and both plans took broadly similar approaches to the scope and application of the objectives.

3.35
The Te Urewera National Park Management Plan notes the legislative requirement for consistency with conservation management strategy provisions, and contains cross-references to the East Coast Conservation Management Strategy. The Westland Tai Poutini National Park Management Plan notes that the plan must be in keeping with policies contained in the West Coast Conservation Management Strategy, once the strategy is approved.

Non-statutory strategies and plans for land

3.36
The Department has several non-statutory national strategies and plans that support legislative requirements and high-level outcomes in the Statement of Intent, and provide direction and guidance for planning, programmes, and initiatives throughout the Department. However, there is no specific national strategy or plan for land to effectively implement relevant policies in the statements of general policy.

3.37
In June 1998, the Department wrote a draft Land Holding Strategy for the Acquisition, Disposal and Administration of Legal Interests in Land. The purpose of the draft strategy was to provide direction on how the Department would contribute to achieving the Crown’s goals for natural and historic heritage, open space recreation, and amenity values through the acquisition, disposal, and administration of land, in a cost-effective way. The draft strategy noted there was no other overall formal framework for doing this.

3.38
The draft strategy was intended as a guide for Department staff, and outlined the Department’s legal interests in land, Crown policy goals, guidelines for decision-making, land acquisition and disposal decision-making, and issues and options for addressing these matters. The Department advised us that it incorporated work from the draft strategy into other documents, including the Conservation General Policy, and that the strategy was consequently no longer required.

3.39
The statements of general policy provide broad national direction for the Department’s integrated land management, including land transaction activity. In our view, the effective implementation of the statements of general policy needs a clear and comprehensive national strategic plan for land. Such a plan would provide for consistency and co-ordination in land planning and management processes throughout the Department.

Our conclusions

3.40
The Department has policies and objectives for land within its statutory planning documents. However, because these policies and objectives are broad, and are often dispersed among several national and conservancy documents, it was difficult to determine what outcomes or objectives for land the Department is seeking at a national level.

3.41
The effectiveness of the Department’s strategic planning for land would be improved if it finished all the statutory planning documents.

3.42
The statements of general policy provide for consistent approaches in addressing land planning and management issues. They should also help to ensure that land management objectives in any future conservation management strategies are clear.

3.43
In our view, the effective implementation of the Department’s statutory policies and objectives requires a clear and cohesive national strategic plan for land. A national strategic plan would also enable effective co-ordination of the Department’s management and information systems, to ensure that long-term goals and objectives for land are achieved.

1: The East Coast Hawke’s Bay Conservancy has 2 conservation management strategies – the East Coast Conservation Management Strategy and the Hawke’s Bay Conservation Management Strategy – resulting from the former East Coast Conservancy and Hawke’s Bay Conservancy having been integrated in 1997. The Department proposes to review both strategies at the same time and combine them into a single conservation management strategy.