The Environmental Defence Society welcomes the government’s decision to abandon the controversial conservation land exchange and disposal provisions in the Conservation Amendment Bill, while warning that several significant issues remain unresolved.

“The decision to withdraw the land exchange and disposal provisions and undertaking to amend the ‘economic clauses’ removes some of the biggest threats to the conservation estate. But there is still considerable work to do before this Bill is fit to become law,” says EDS COO, Shay Schlaepfer.

“Our principal concern is with the economic clauses. As currently drafted, they elevate economic use and development without making it clear that those activities must always remain subordinate to enduring conservation outcomes.”

EDS recommendations include:

• Strengthening the independent oversight role of the New Zealand Conservation Authority and Conservation Boards;
• Making the National Conservation Policy Statement mandatory;
• Incorporating climate change into conservation planning; and
• Ensuring public participation is retained for significant decisions

Read the EDS submission here.

Read CTA’s submission here.