Indigenous biodiversity examined in Marlborough Environment Plan hearings

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

The Para Wetland, south of Picton, is one of many wetlands at risk of depletion from changes in land use.

Marlborough's indigenous plants and animals are under the microscope as the latest round of hearings on the region's proposed environment plan get underway this week.

Several groups spoke on the Marlborough Environment Plan's section on indigenous biodiversity, calling for some changes at the Marlborough District Council on Monday.

The plan would determine the council's environmental policies for the next 20 years, and specified what sort of activities would be allowed or banned.

Department of Conservation plant ecologist Simon Moore said there was an 'extensive' loss of indigenous vegetation in Marlborough, which 'mirrors the national picture'.

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DOC plant ecologist Simon Moore says Significant Natural Areas need to be protected from clearance by legislation in the proposed plan. (File photo)

* Marlborough Environment Plan ready for public scrutiny

* Environment Plan hearings in Marlborough to begin in August next year

Trawling is one of the main risks to marine habitats as equipment is dragged over the seabed. (File photo)

* Commissioners could be paid $350,000 for Environment Plan work in Marlborough**

The most depleted ecosystems were coastal-lowland alluvial forests, and lowland wetlands, and the main threats were deliberate clearance by landowners, weeds, introduced herbivores, fires and grazing.

Ngāi Tahu wants the proposed Marlborough Environment Plan to include provisions for customary harvest, for example, of flax for weaving. (File photo)

Indigenous vegetation or a habitat of an indigenous species was called a Significant Natural Area (SNA) under an existing council programme.

Of the landowners approached by the programme, 75 per cent had allowed their land to be surveyed for the programme.

The four-volume 1200-page proposed Marlborough Environment Plan can be found at the Marlborough District Council and the Marlborough District Library.

There were 708 SNAs identified, but only 12 per cent had any restoration or protection - 33 in north Marlborough and 55 in the south. Two were deliberately cleared using fire or herbicide.

While the programme was successful in raising awareness, it did not completely protect the areas from being cleared, Moore said.

'There are examples where SNAs have been compromised through vegetation clearance which is permitted under the rules in the operative Wairau Awatere Resource Management Plan. These examples demonstrate that a robust regulatory backstop is required to effectively protect SNAs from active clearance.'

Moore wanted the plan's rules on clearance to provide regulatory protection for the areas.

Ngāi Tahu wanted to include a new policy allowing customary harvesting in areas with threatened indigenous vegetation, habitats with significant indigenous biodiversity, and ecologically significant marine sites.

Customary harvesting allowed iwi to collect plants and animals for cultural purposes, such as ceremonies, medicinal uses, weaving or consumption.

But Ngāi Tahu counsel Joshua Leckie said the plan would require iwi to get resource consent to gather grass and flax from the coastlines.

It was important to ensure legislation was drafted to comply with the Treaty of Waitangi principles, he said.

'Customary harvesting is essential in enabling Ngāi Tahu, and other tangata whenua iwi, to exercise kaitiakitanga [guardianship of the environment] and to provide for their relationship with their culture, lands, water and other taonga [treasures].

'The panel can have confidence that exercising kaitiakitanga in accordance with tikanga [the Māori way] ensures robust, sustainable and thorough protection for indigenous biodiversity.'

Department of Conservation marine technical adviser Andrew Baxter said the main threats to marine habitats in Marlborough were sedimentation, trawling, shellfish dredging, and biosecurity threats.

Sedimentation happened when sediment entered coastal waters and settled on the seabed, and could happen naturally, but was also caused by human activity such as forestry. The inner Pelorus Sound was particularly prone to sediment.

Aquaculture was a significant industry and was also a significant 'pressure' for marine habitats, as dropped food pellets and faeces near farms could affect marine habitats, Baxter said.

Several significant sites had been found in Marlborough that were believed to have once been more widespread, such as rhodolith beds, horse mussel beds and elephant fish spawning areas in the Pelorus Sound.

More significant marine sites would likely come to light in the years to come and it was important the Marlborough Environment Plan was ready for this, Baxter said.

The whale migratory corridor, mapped using a 2011 study, should be amended to exclude the inner Sounds areas of Port Underwood, Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound (inside from Long Island).

Submissions on indigenous biodiversity would run until Thursday. Next week the panel would hear submissions on climate change and energy.

The hearings on the 1200-page draft started in August and would continue until at least mid-March.