New Zealand Government suspends Significant Natural Areas requirement

The New Zealand Government scaling back of a series of environmental regulations has today seen Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard announce a suspension of the requirement for local government to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).

Explaining the move, Associate Minister Hoggard stated “as it stands, SNAs identified on private property limit new activities and development that can take place on that property. In their current form they represent a confiscation of property rights and undermine conservation efforts by the people who care most about the environment: the people who make a living from it.

"As part of the … coalition agreement the Government committed to ceasing the implementation of new SNAs. This work will be carried out as part of the Government's RMA reforms. For now, the Government has agreed to suspend the obligation for councils to impose SNAs under the NPS Indigenous Biodiversity, and we're sending a clear message that it would be unwise to bother.

"The Government is proposing to make the changes as quickly as possible to ensure councils and communities do not waste resources and effort implementing national direction requirements that may change following a review.”

The New Zealand Government is to also review the operation of existing SNAs more broadly, including those implemented under the powers that councils have in the RMA.

Associate Minister Hoggard added "New Zealand currently has 180,000 hectares of privately-owned land in QEII covenants (a legal agreement between the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust and a landowner to protect a special open space feature in perpetuity, ed). The impressive engagement and growth of QEII covenants - all voluntary - shows that private landowners do care about conservation.”

The move is not expected to change the need for councils to protect areas with significant indigenous biodiversity under the Resource Management Act 1991.

Green Party environment spokeswoman Lan Pham said that the move was “intentionally whipping up fear of SNAs for its own political gain”.

Pham advised “Significant Natural Areas represent some of the most crucial pockets of our native habitat and act as a sanctuary for our most rare and threatened indigenous plants and species. Suspending the identification of SNAs and jeopardising existing ones condemns our flora and fauna to a future of continued decline and degradation.”

Image: Taranaki Mounga. Credit: New Zealand Walking Access Commission/.