Hovercraft halted in Rotorua

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 5

Hovercraft halted in Rotorua

Basil Graeme

FOREST AND BIRD has succeeded in halting wildlife disturbance by a hovercraft operator on Sulphur Bay in Lake Rotorua. The waters of the bay are gazetted as a wildlife refuge. They are a very important wildlife habitat for over 40 native bird species, and the breeding place for significant populations of dabchick, scaup and banded dotterel. The tourist hovercraft operator had sought for some time to take passengers into the geothermal bay and had received a permit last August only to have it revoked when the conditions were broken and the birds disturbed. Then, in an unorthodox

exercise of patronage, the Rotorua District mayor arranged a temporary permit for the hovercraft. While submissions to the council from Forest and Bird and DoC had advocated the development of the area for sensitive ecotourism, conservationists couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the hovercraft operating again in Sulphur Bay over the New Year holiday, without any consent hearing or consultation. The hovercraft harassed birds in the refuge by driving through them at speeds of up to 40 km/h. At the head of the bay it then landed on a geothermal flat showering sand and pumice over the breeding territories of banded dotterel. Particularly disturbing was the disregard of the principle of

sanctuary that is inherent in the wildlife refuge status of the bay. Forest and Bird, in particular local members Alan Newman and John Innes, led a determined campaign against this inappropriate venture that masqueraded as ecotourism. Eventually they convinced the council that the disturbance of dotterels and the geothermal flat (gazetted a local purpose reserve) was contrary to the wildlife provisions in the Reserves Act, and that the hovercraft venture was a new activity requiring a consent under the Resource Management Act. With landing denied, the hovercraft passage across the wildlife refuge was effectively stymied.