Growing calls for compensation for West Coasters facing land losses

Tuesday, 6 July 2021

RNZ's podcast The Detail speaks to a West Coast landowner to find out why they are so angry at the latest moves to identify and protect SNAs. (First published June 11, 2021)

Calls for compensation for landowners are growing on the West Coast as the Government mulls its new biodiversity policy.

Associate Environment Minister James Shaw has said a draft National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity (NSPIB) will be released for consultation soon. It will set out criteria for councils to identify and protect Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) on private land.

Some West Coasters are calling the policy a “land grab”, which will lock up land and prevent any development. Shaw has said some activities will still be permitted on SNAs.

The mayor and deputy mayor of Buller wrote to Shaw this week asking for West Coasters to be compensated for any restrictions put on their land.

**READ MORE:

Some West Coasters are calling the policy a “land grab”, which will lock up land and prevent any development. (File photo)

* Grey mayor 'disgusted' with James Shaw over comments about 'Pākehā farmers'

* Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) in the Far North: What you need to know

* Groundswell ramps up protest action against proposed Government policy

* Wellington council targets mediocrity with Significant Natural Areas policy

Mayor Jamie Cleine and deputy Sharon Roche are also members of the Te Tai O Poutini Plan Committee responsible for writing a one district plan for the region. The pair did not vote with the committee when it decided to reject a report on the issue which included a map of potential SNAs.

All native bush on the West Coast could be identified as a significant natural area.

They wrote to Shaw and Nanaia Mahuta to call for open dialogue and compensation for West Coasters.

The report showed the majority of the native vegetation on the West Coast was a potential SNA, the pair said. The issue was causing a “great deal of anxiety”, they said.

The region has 87 per cent of its land under the Department of Conservation, with only the remaining 13 per cent available for private ownership and development.

The letter said the mayors understood the Government was considering compensating landowners possibly by biodiversity credits in recognition of the value of SNA land.

Compensation was “essential in the West Coast context”, it said.

Federated Farmers environment and water spokesman Chris Allen says the West Coast could be treated as a special case because so much of its land is already protected by DOC.

They appealed to the Ministers to engage with the mayors so they could “have a fully informed conversation with our communities”.

Forest & Bird conservation advocacy manager Jen Miller said supporting landowners to protect native habitats on their land was “crucial”. Support could be through education, advice, financial assistance for fencing or pest control, or rates relief.

The QEII Trust and the Nature Heritage Fund could be better resourced to acquire land needing protection, she said.

However, Miller said identifying significant areas did not mean the land could not be touched.

“It simply ensures that the natural values are taken into account when activities are proposed that would affect them.”

'Given how many species New Zealand has already lost, and how many are left on the brink, it doesn't seem unreasonable to provide more clarity around how we're going to protect our remaining native habitats.”

When asked if the door was open to compensation, Shaw said the Government was “working on a range of options at the moment”.

Federated Farmers biodiversity spokesperson Chris Allen said the cost of protecting the land should not be worn by the landowners.

Pest control, weed control and fencing were all required to maintain indigenous biodiversity, and cost money.

“Landowners should be supported with rates relief. They still have to pay general rates and they can’t do as much on it as what they would normally,” he said.

He believed the West Coast could be treated as a special case because so much of its land was already protected by DOC.

Allen is part of the Biodiversity Collaborative Group, which is made up of landowners, tangata whenua and environmental groups. Its report in 2018 recommended to the Government “complementary and supporting measures” to help landowners protect the natural values of their land.

It recommended Treasury, the Tax Working Group, and IRD investigate tax relief to incentivise retention of indigenous cover on private land. It also suggested funding be made available to landowners for maintenance and to increase funding for the QEII National Trust and Ngā Whenua Rāhui and to give rates relief for protected land.