Department of Conservation

Forest and Bird, Volume 18, Issue 1, 1 February 1987, Page 4

Department of Conservation

Kaitiaki of the Coastal Estate.

The following is an abridged version of an address made to the Auckland coastal seminar by the DirectorGeneral of the Conservation Department, Ken Piddington.

hank you for your invitation to be here and to address you today. I applaud your concern for our coastal heritage which has brought us together on this unique isthmus. This workshop represents a turning point for the conservation movement just as the environmental administration represents in my view a maturing in our perceptions for the management of New Zealand's public estate, and in particular the coastal zone. Until the events of the last two years there was neither an environmental group nor a

public administration focus on the coastal zone area as an entity in its own right. What is the appropriate form of trusteeship to be afforded our commons? The coastal zone encapsulates all elements of and pressures of management of the commons. Its present state reflects the mismanagement of the past. But without the coastal assets that we take for granted what would our identity as New Zealanders be? I remember the mudflats and the mangroves of the Waitemata. I even caught snapper in the harbour, capsized my sailing dinghy and collected driftwood on the Northcote foreshore. After some 35 years the rhythm of the tides and the sunrise on the water still say powerful things to me. The major problems really relate to our perceptions as a society and the stage of maturity (or lack of it) that we have collectively reached. In my view, if we go back — 10 or even 5 years ago — we find that New Zealand was not ready for conservation management of our public estate, our heritage — nga taonga katoa a Aotearoa. It is debatable whether or not we are ready now but I can report a wave of enthusiasm for DOC and what it represents. Different techniques have to be used and DOC will embody that element of the role of the Crown which is not one of ownership but one of trusteeship. DOC itself is a caretaker and owns none of the estate, in the case of the highly protected estate this function becomes one of Kaitiaki or Guardian. Constitutionally I think it is important to test the model which Government in open consultation in 1984-85 arrived at.

The Government has given the Department of Conservation responsibility for the Marine Reserves Act and the Marine Mammals Act in the marine setting and for the coastal area, and responsibility for aspects of the Harbours Act. Except for commercial port areas, within which the Ministry of Transport will retain all existing functions under the Harbours Act, marine and coastal administration will be carried out on a functional basis. DOC will have responsibility for the allocation of space and managing the public interest — in other words, from the mean high water zone to the 12-mile limit, the foreshore and seabed will be administered by DOC under its stewardship role. What then are the implications. for coastal zone management? The most dramatic is the integration of activities under the DOC umbrella. DOC will be responsible for the promotion and management of reserves, from the mountain tops to outlying islands. This has particular significance for harbour and inter-tidal areas and allows for the management of broader but related groupings of habitats and wildlife. Yesterday I visited Okiwi, an estuarine system on Great Barrier Island. It is a classic, and happily still intact example of the inter-relationship between land use and water quality. Since it contains the habitat of about 50 percent of the endangered brown teal population, it is a system of international importance. An area of farmland has been acquired by the Crown to act as a buffer for this habitat. It is typical of such conservation areas that they contain a

mosaic of values. It is typical of the coastal zone that to give prominence to one value, say farm production, is to put others at risk. Where the estate is under DOC oversight, such outcomes can be avoided. Another effect of DOC’s role will be the involvement of a large number of professional staff around the coastline who will be able to inspect and monitor the coastal zone. DOC will be geared to deal with illegal activities throughout the public estate. In the upcoming review of the Harbours Act we will be particularly keen to see the provisions relating to prosecutions simplified and made more effective. The integration of all DOC’s functions and the implications of its mission are most significant. As far as we can ascertain, there has not been created anywhere in the world a department of state with such a logical mandate. In the marine area the Department of Conservation has already signalled its intentions to pick up its responsibilities under the Marine Reserves Act with urgency. Early in 1987 the Ministry of Fisheries will hand over its work on Marine Protected Areas Policy, Marine Protected Areas Legislation and specific regional marine reserve proposals to DOC. We have proposed that this be by means of public comment on the documentation provided. I trust that many of you will take this opportunity to make submissions. DOC’s responsibilities under the Marine Mammals Act will begin with the immediate problems for which policy will be needed as a matter of priority. In particular the thorny

question of live dolphin capture will demand attention. The development of the West Coast hoki fishery is bringing fishermen into conflict with the now expanding fur seal populations, in a development parallel to the Hooker sealion/squid fishing conflict. DOC will also need to develop policy to oversee the transfer of the marine mammal stranding rescue network from MAF to DOC. A third major area of marine involvement is that of the role of Maori Authorities in fisheries/kai moana management. We will take an active role in discussions about Maori fisheries and will also work through Maori tribal authorities in relation to Marine Reserves legislation. Fourthly, DOC will have much work to do in establishing an effective working relationship with the other principal actors in marine management — particularly MAF but also catchment authorities, the Ministry of Transport and Harbour Boards. In the coastal context there will be a major effort in establishing appropriate policy to deal with Harbours Act responsibilities, including licensing activities for reclamation and harbour works (including marinas), application of environmental procedures, prosecution for (and rehabilitation of) illegal works, grants of control, management of coastal wetlands and salt marshes, beach and dune areas and esplanade reserves. There will need to be a lot of work to integrate Maori interests into all areas of policy. DOC will have an active role in the follow up to the recommendations of the

Manukau Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal, looking at such issues as the appropriate ownership and control of seabed and foreshore. There is also a large amount of work to be done restoring areas of coastal estate with prospects for such activities as the planting of pingao, etc. Most of the principal statutes dealing with aspects of coastal management are due for revision within the first two years of DOC's inception, including the Harbours Act itself. This will require considerable effort. Again DOC will approach such tasks seeking public views and the close involvement of interested groups. In all of these areas there is a common thread and that is that DOC is the trustee or guardian, as the case may be, for the coastal commons. In all its endeavours DOC will be seeking to involve the public to the fullest possible extent. The task is large, as is the estate. While DOC will have greater ability than the previous administration to monitor and manage this special heritage, its effectiveness will be enhanced by the assistance it receives from the public that you represent. Modern Western society has shown a pronounced trend towards institutionalising its responsibilities. This trend has to be reversed in the area of conservation management of the commons. We all need to be involved and I look forward to a new form of management throughout New Zealand, in close partnership with such local groups as yourselves. Together we should perhaps take out advertisements for the coastal estate proclaiming ‘‘Watch this Space." &