For many landowners, particularly hill and high-country farmers, this new policy will have a far greater impact than the recent freshwater legislation.
Consistent with the Government’s approach to freshwater and climate change, the more you have done to be good environmental stewards the more you will be penalised under this new law.
One of the more controversial parts of the statement is the requirement for all councils to do district-wide ecological significance surveys. That means anyone who owns land can expect to be surveyed. Currently it is voluntary for councils and many have not done it because of the huge cost, the conflict it creates in their communities and the lack of benefit to biodiversity outcomes.
New national significance criteria under the proposed statement are much broader meaning most indigenous vegetation will be captured as Significant Natural Areas (SNAs).
Areas of exotic vegetation such as pine, willows, gorse and pasture are likely to be deemed SNA if it is habitat to an important native species.
Most landowners will have SNAs on their land and many face the prospect of having the bulk of their land designated SNA.
Stricter rules will apply to areas mapped as SNAs. Property values will be impacted for those with a high proportion of their land mapped SNA and there is no compensation.
During our recent 2016 Hurunui District Plan review evidence clearly showed mapping and regulating SNAs on private land is counterproductive. It turns biodiversity into a liability and does not improve biodiversity outcomes for SNAs. Evidence shows many SNAs will continue to deteriorate or be lost if active management, particularly of weeds and pests, is not done.
As a result, the hearing commissioners removed all SNA mapping from the District Plan and with no appeals the new plan with no SNAs became law.
Under the proposed statement all councils are required to survey their whole district for SNAs, taonga (Maori treasures) and highly mobile species.
If landowners refuse access councils are required to desktop map and, if necessary, force access using the Resource Management Act powers of entry.
Because of the lack of confidentiality and the misuse of private property information many landowners have refused access for surveys. If the statement, as written, is forced onto councils it will bring major disruption into our communities.
The RMA and the statement fail to recognise that landowner attitudes towards the natural environment have changed and people do not need to be coerced to protect biodiversity.
The native forest clearance incentivised under previous government policies no longer occurs.
The reason an impressive 2.8 million hectares of native vegetation remains on sheep and beef farms is because landowners have chosen to protect it though maintaining that indigenous vegetation is a considerable cost to landowners and for any biodiversity policies to be effective the buy-in of landowners is critical.
Biodiversity protection on private land relies on the goodwill of landowners.
Indigenous biodiversity must be seen as an asset not a liability.
Landowners must feel confident their positive environmental efforts will not result in more restrictions and bureaucratic interference. For biodiversity protection on private land to be successful it must be removed from the punitive, regulatory framework of the proposed statement and RMA.
Our solution is to point to the success of the QEII Trust covenanting system and the former catchment board approach.
Those systems are a partnership based on trust. They offer tailored plans and rules agreed to by both parties. They focus on actions needed to protect areas rather than bureaucratic surveys. They include funding and help with management of natural areas, confidentiality of private property information and greater certainty for both parties. The proposed statement provides none of that.
Over the next year the Rural Advocacy Network will be calling for major changes to New Zealand’s fragmented and ineffective environmental laws.
As part of that we are advocating for a national advisory system that has a vision of developing and nurturing the environmental ethos of stewardship or kaitiakitanga across all landowners, rural and urban, under one holistic, integrated planning framework. Watch this space.
In the meantime we are launching a nationwide campaign to inform landowners of the statement’s implications. We are calling for much stronger support from our industry groups in challenging the draconian, top-down approach this Government continues to take with environmental policies.
Submissions on the statement close on March 14 and we encourage landowners and those with an interest in biodiversity to submit.
There are no public meetings on the statement and we have asked Ministry for the Environment to reconsider that stance.
We have prepared a comprehensive analysis of the implications for landowners and councils and it can be obtained by emailing info@ruraladvocacynetwork.nz or phone/text Jamie 027 3218747.
