Commissioner for the Environment backs Federated Farmers’ proposals

Federated Farmers’ suggestion of land swaps of some private land, for the land held by the Department of Conservation, have been picked up by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

In her most recent update report on what is known as ‘stewardship land’ held by DOC, the Commissioner, Dr Jan Wright, says Federated Farmers ‘ proposal for swapping land on their own properties with conservation values, in return for potential farmland held by DOC, ‘has merit’.

Dr Wright’s report expressed concern that the future of stewardship land has yet to be resolved. She recommended that the Minister of Conservation Maggie Barry, ‘takes direct responsibility for any decision to swap stewardship land’.

Stewardship land was Crown land put under DOC administration when DOC was set up in 1987. It comprises about a third of the land DOC is currently responsible for. The future of these blocks of land, as farmland or conservation land, was to be decided at a later date. It still has not been resolved.

Federated Farmers has been pointing out that much of the stewardship land has little or no conservation values, yet DOC’s resources have to be used to administer it.

Federated Farmers board member Katie Milne says the Conservation Act provides for land swaps, but the process is complex and not only do farmers see it as too hard but DOC has no budget to allocate to land swaps.

.“We are not surprised Dr Wright likes our proposal. It is so obvious that some land on farms would ideally be professionally managed as part of the conservation estate. On the other hand it is equally clear that some stewardship land is much more suited to farming development,” Milne says.

“That would benefit both conservation and production. We would love to see Dr Wright’s support taken on board by the Minister of Conservation, get the process obstacles out of the way, and let farmers get on with it.”

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