DoC area merger not good for conservation

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 685, 6 May 1997, Page 7

DoC area merger not good for conservation

Benefits of an amalgamation of theTongariro/Taupo and Hawkes Bay conservancies of the Department of Conservation would be limited to some possible fmancial gains and would be of little help to conservation. That is according to the Tongariro/Taupo Conservation Board which is strongly opposed to the proposal. The proposal, which also involves a merger of East Coast and Bay of Plenty conservancies, is one of two currently open to public consultation. The second is amalgamation of East Coast and Hawkes Bay conservancies only. Both proposals have been made in response to work carried out by Bach Consulting, the company which completed an "organisational diagnostic" on the Department of Conservation in 1996, at the request of Minister of Conservation Dr Nick Smith. Although the Conservation Board a'cknowledges the positive intent behind the restructuring of the Department, it says that suggestions of conservancy mergers moves the focus to a group of new and contentious issues. The Bach report on rationalising the number of North Island conservancies suggests that some financial efficiencies would result but this

would be due mainly to lower staff numbers over greater areas, says the board. "The Board questions the justification for these amalgamations in terms of conservation gains," says the board' s chairperson, Laura Dawson. "Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department of Conservation has been central to restructuring and the Board does not see that merging conservancies will help to achieve this goal." The Board is also concemed that social factors have not been adequately considered. "Conservation boards are a link between the public and the department," says Ms Dawson. "We feel strongly that the amalgamation proposals fail to place enough value on issues like iwi affiliations and communities of interest. Conservation gains depend to a large extent on relationships between the Department and the community and we don't want to see social factors undervalued." Public submissions on the proposed amalgamations close with the Department of Conservation Head Office, P O Box 1 0420, Wellington on Monday 12 May.