Forest & Bird is deeply concerned that politicians are continuing to misrepresent the value of stewardship land.

Minister of Economic Growth Nicola Willis said on RNZ this morning that stewardship land “is not these pristine environments, often it’s just scrubby land”. This is off the back of Minister for Resources Shane Jones’ earlier incorrect comments that stewardship land is not DOC land.

“That is just plain wrong,” says Forest & Bird Chief Executive Nicola Toki. “Much of the public conservation land held as stewardship land has values just as high as the national parks that Minister Willis says won’t be mined. It’s disingenuous for politicians to dismiss these areas as a wasteland. We are writing to Minister Willis to clarify this.

“Let’s be clear – this land includes New Zealand’s mountain peaks, ancient rainforests, wetlands and wild rivers.

“Stewardship land is public conservation land in law. It’s the last refuge of some of our most threatened species and rare habitats. Many areas are, in fact, pristine and of immense value, home to threatened or at-risk birds such as kea, kiwi, mātātā fernbird, or whio blue duck.”

Recent work looking at reclassifying 644,016 hectares of stewardship land on the South Island’s West Coast recommended that the vast majority be reclassified as conservation park, historic reserve and national park. Only 0.01% was recommended for disposal, indicating that very little stewardship land is without conservation value.

“In a warming world, we will rely on these ecosystems and habitats more than ever and we need to protect them now, for the future. The last thing New Zealand needs is for public conservation land to be ripped open and turned into mine sites.” Ms Toki says.

When the stewardship land review began in 2022, Forest & Bird produced an explainer for journalists which described some of the history, including that some areas of that were purchased and added as stewardship land to the conservation estate because of their high conservation value, for example land purchased by the Nature Heritage Fund. Forest & Bird made an extensive submission on the West Coast stewardship land review.

The organisation had earlier produced a report pointing out that stewardship land, which is about a third of all public conservation land, also contains about 28% of New Zealand’s biodiversity priority sites.

Notes:

‘Stewardship’ is a conservation category which provides protection based on the natural and historic values of the land.

Around 30% of conservation areas are held in stewardship – over 2.7 million hectares or 9% of New Zealand’s total land area. Many of these areas are home to threatened species and high-priority ecosystems.

All stewardship land held by DOC is held because of the conservation values present on the land. It does not have to be reclassified for its conservation values to be managed and protected.

Reclassifying stewardship land would ensure there are additional layers of protection for the land that needs it the most.

Stewardship land is a classification under the Conservation Act 1987 (the Conservation Act). Under section 25 of the Conservation Act stewardship land “shall be so managed that its natural and historic resources are protected”.

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