Forest & Bird media release: Forest & Bird challenges Government to heed Auditor-General’s report on DOC


Independent conservation organisation Forest & Bird challenges the Government to act on a report from the Auditor-General this week about the Department of Conservation’s shortcomings in managing biodiversity.

The Auditor-General’s report on the effectiveness of the Department of Conservation has come to the damning conclusion that the department’s “efforts to manage biodiversity have, at best, resulted in merely slowing its decline”.

Forest & Bird says this is not a surprise to anyone as the Government’s constant attacks on DOC’s funding, staffing levels and advocacy abilities are taking a heavy toll on the department.

Auditor-Generals are answerable to Parliament, not the Government. The post is currently held by Lyn Provost.

“DOC’s just been through its fourth restructuring in as many years. Around 100 jobs were lost in just the last round, and next year’s cuts to front line services are already being planned,” says Forest & Bird Advocacy Manager Kevin Hackwell.

“The department has led the world in pest control, developing technologies and techniques that can save our biodiversity. But much of that progress has been lost of late, through a lack of funding,” says Kevin Hackwell.

The Auditor-General‘s report claims that DOC could apply for more grants and rely more on corporate funding.

“Things have got to a sad state when – in order to do their job - particular Government departments must compete with community groups for money from lotteries and the like,” Kevin Hackwell says.

“There’s also far less money in these post-recessionary times available for corporate sponsorship or partnership projects.

“For instance, Solid Energy has backed right off its sponsorship proposals as the price of coal has taken a dive.

“The constant cuts at DOC mean the department is abandoning critical pieces of conservation estate to the likes of the Australian company that wants to dig an open cast mine on the West Coast’s unique Denniston Plateau,” says Kevin Hackwell.

Forest & Bird has had to take legal action itself to save the plateau.

Meanwhile, the National Policy Statement on Biodiversity – which Forest & Bird and other groups say is vital to protecting biodiversity on private land - is still languishing in the development stage, nearly 10 years after work began on it.

“Other Government agencies are also not doing enough to protect our biodiversity – for example, from the impacts the fishing industry has on Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins, New Zealand sea lions and seabirds,” Kevin Hackwell says.

“The Government and its agencies have a vital role in protecting the landscapes, plants and animals that make New Zealand such a great place to live, and which also help drive this country’s economy. The Auditor-General sees that. When will the Government finally see this too?”

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