What if farmers and other groups could save NZ biodiversity?

What if farmers and other groups could save New Zealand’s unique biodiversity?

July 25, 2013

A University of Canterbury (UC) expert believes farmers, foresters and other landowners could save New Zealand’s native biodiversity through financial incentives.

UC forestry professor David Norton says New Zealand’s unique native biodiversity has declined dramatically since people arrived in New Zealand about some 700 years ago.

Professor Norton will give a public lecture on campus about biodiversity next week (July 31). See: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/wiw/

"This decline continues today with an unprecedented number of species facing the threat of extinction, including 10 percent of flowering plants and 24 percent of land birds.

"At least 19 species of forest bird are threatened by introduced mammals while a whole suite of eastern South Island small trees and shrubs are threatened by competition from invasive plants.

"Biodiversity conservation in New Zealand is largely funded by government but there is insufficient funding to stem the biodiversity decline we are currently facing. Of the eight and a half million hectares of public land administered by the Department of Conservation only 12 percent is under sustained possum control while only one third of threatened species receive targeted recovery work.

"We need to consider alternative approaches to ensuring that conservation management is undertaken to a level that ensures the sustainability of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity.

"We need to be cleverer with how we use current conservation funding, such as controlling pests over much larger areas of forest for the same cost.

"We need to work with industry to achieve win-win outcomes for biodiversity and development such as energy, farming and infrastructure.

"We should empower farmers, foresters and other landowners to manage native biodiversity on their land through appropriate financial incentives.

"We must rethink how we deliver conservation management in New Zealand and especially innovative ways to reduce overhead costs associated with this. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy manages three million hectares of land for biodiversity conservation, but only 10 percent of its expenditure goes into administration.

"Considering new ways to encourage positive conservation activities will also help. But to make new initiatives work we need to move beyond the current government-centred model of conservation to a broader and more inclusive one that involves the full range of stakeholders.

"We need to recognise that, while people are part of the problem, they also need to be part of the solution," Professor Norton says.

ENDS

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