Here's how the Government and councils plan to save Aotearoa's wildlife

Wednesday, 20 April 2022

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If New Zealand’s wildlife is to survive, the Department of Conservation says it will need support from community groups, hapū, and an all-of-Government response to prevent extinctions.

Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan launched the Government's “Te Mana o te Taiao implementation plan” on Wednesday, in response to an earlier biodiversity strategy from two years ago.

These pieces of work, and other briefings from officials at DOC, have repeatedly warned that the systems in place to protect our environment and biodiversity are so complex, involving so many agencies and ministries, that they’re often ineffectual.

Penguins are among the 4000 native species under threat of extinction in Aotearoa.

The implementation strategy, which sets conservation goals for the next 30 years, calls for a coherent and united strategy to protect our native plants and animals.

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An Antipodean albatross soars above the waters off Antipodes Island, to the south-east of the South Island.

In Aotearoa currently there are 4000 native species deemed at-risk. Many species rely on the integrity of complex ecosystems, stretching oceans, climates and landscapes, for survival. The Mana o te Taiao report notes that climate change, fishing, land development and other human-led changes to the natural environment, threaten thousands of native species.

Former Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage says the new biodiversity strategy increases accountability.

It notes that the current powers of DOC alone cannot prevent extinctions.

Compounding these issues, native species across Aotearoa – such as our birds and insects – are also under attack from introduced predators. To achieve the predator free 2050 goal, the implementation plan says it’s time to call in supports. The plan says a main objective for the department is to build strong relationships with community groups, iwi, and hapū – and resource them to help protect biodiversity.

Allan said the implementation plan was the first time multiple government departments and councils had come together to focus on biodiversity.

“Over the next five years, people can expect to see a more coordinated and collaborative approach to biodiversity work from central and local government to achieve much-needed gains for nature,” she said.

The Green Party’s James Shaw, who is the minister of climate change and has responsibilities for biodiversity, said the implementation plan showed this Government understood the connections between biodiversity, climate change, human development, and pollution.

He said further work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, from the Government's upcoming Emissions Reduction Plan, would include a focus on preserving New Zealand's wildlife.

However, Eugenie Sage, the former conservation minister who is now the Green’s environment spokesperson, said the plan didn’t go far enough. She criticised it for not including a “firm commitment” to establish marine protected areas at Rangitāhua and on the South Island's south-east coast.

Sage said work on Te Mana o te Taiao started while she was conservation minister, in response to a lack of accountability from the previous biodiversity strategy launched in 2010. She said the early plan also acknowledged multiple agencies would need to respond to save the wildlife, but it had no way to keep track of who was doing what.

“This implementation plan is quite explicit in the actions, with deadlines and lead agencies named - so it should be easier to do an annual or biannual review to determine what progress has been made,” she said.

“Given the scale of the biodiversity crisis, we need a whole of government, whole of community, whole of iwi, hapū and council involved.”

The implementation plan outlined objectives and actions across sectors, including a focus on the importance of repealing the Resource Management Act, as well as community and education priorities, and changes to fisheries management and the Biosecurity Act.