24 March 2013

Indigenous biodiversity at risk from DOC staff cuts

Further job cuts at the Department of Conservation will put our native wildlife and landscapes at risk and further undermine New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure’ brand, the Green Party said today.

Department of Conservation (DOC) managers will announce the latest round of departmental job cuts on Tuesday. More than 265 jobs have been cut from the Department since National took power. Ninety-six positions were cut in the last restructuring in 2012 alone. Tuesday’s announcement is expected to involve another significant number of jobs.

“The National Government’s job cuts at DOC are hurting the environment and will leave DOC without the expertise it needs to protect the wild places we love,” said Green Party conservation spokesperson Eugenie Sage.

“Rather than investing in nature and the professional expertise needed to protect our special native plants and wildlife, this Government is prepared to risk it all for savings less than the cost of a Solid Energy bail out.

“The technical expertise and commitment of DOC staff are vital for conservation in New Zealand. The funding pressure that National’s budget cuts have put on DOC will put endangered species at risk.”

The on-going job losses follow a $54 million cut in the Department’s budget in 2009 and further funding pressure because of Government’s singular focus on reducing spending.

“Volunteers and business cannot do the work of skilled conservation staff or meet the funding shortfall as the Department is hoping. Last year, revenues from commercial sponsorship was only $3.3 million,” Ms Sage said.

“DOC manages more than a third of the land in New Zealand. Sixty per cent of New Zealanders consider conservation to be as important as education, health, and law and order.

“We need to invest in protecting our unique plants and animals which are found nowhere else on Earth.

“Our 100% Pure brand is intimately tied up with our strong environmental reputation. National’s reckless job cuts and the resulting loss of expertise are undermining all that.”

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