The native bush in danger

Press, 16 July 1982, Page 14

The native bush in danger

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

Amid all the public excitement about the large areas of native bush owned by the State that have potential for milling — Pureora, Okarito, Whirinaki, and the Paparoas — it is often overlooked how much of New Zealand’s native bush is still in private hands. And how fast that native bush is disappearing. Public opinion can be a strong factor in determining decisions over State forests; whether or not private owners chose to retain, protect, or mill forest on their land has been pretty much their concern. Now the Wellington-based, Government-funded, Nature Conservation Council has been looking at policies for native bush in private hands. In 1981, the Forestry Council published policy guidelines for private indigenous forests. Landowners were cautioned not to take lightly the decision to clearfell; if logging were undertaken it should be done in such a way that the forest structure was retained and regeneration assured. The Forestry Council concluded that, with proper incentives, "the private forest owner will regard his forest

area with a renewed interest and realise he is privileged to be the owner of a resource of such importance.” It was suggested that local government would need to take a more active role in providing such incentives. Three main faults were found with these guidelines when they were published: 1. They did not provide innovative or radically improved incentives for forest conservation on private land. 2. They focused on the rights of the owner without considering obligations to the land, the ecosystem, or the community. 3. They did not consider the financial encouragement offered by the Government for forest destruction. Bush-covered land on private property has been considered historically as wasteland; arid this feeling is still very common. But in recent years the interest of farmers in clearing native bush has been dwindling as the increased costs of clearance and development began to outstrip potential returns from the land. The availability of Land Development Encouragement Loans from the Rural

Bank and Finance Corporation, however, has rekindled interest in the clearing of native forest for agriculture. Coupled with the Livestock Incentive Scheme, which ended earlier this year, these loans have made development economically viable and attractive. They are considered the biggest single factor influencing native forests on private land today.

On the other hand, there are incentives for private landowners to retain native bush. Many do not want to ensure that landscape qualities are maintained, and in some cases have been willing to negotiate methods of protection.

The Queen Elizabeth II National Trust was established by legislation in 1977 to promote the provision, protection, and enhancement of open space. This is defined as “Any area of land or body of water that serves to preserve or facilitate the preservation of any landscape of aesthetic, cultural, recreational, scenic, scientific, or social interest or value.” -

A major acitivity of the trust is the negotiation of Open Space Covenants on private land — an agreement between a private landowner or leaseholder and the trust. The owner agrees that while still retaining title to the land .it will be kept as open space in its natural condition.

Most of the about 130 agreements negotiated so far have been in the North Island. The scheme depends on the willingness of the owners to forgo potential income from their land; and will also involve costly fencing. Additionally, many of the stands of bush have been heavily modified by grazing, so their value is scenic rather than ecological. There are opportunities to protect private land under the Reserves Act, 1977. Conservation Covenants are ’ a legal agreement whereby a landowner or lessee, agrees to some level of protection, in perpetuity or for a specified term, without the Crown acquiring ownership. They are designed to protect general landscape values.

As well, an area may be declared to be protected private land. This designa-

tion is applied to land that would normally justify’ reserve status if it were public land. At a local level, a number of county councils have agreed to consider reducing, rates on covenanted area or areas of bush that farmers’ are prepared to keep closed up. For example, the Eltham County Council has agreed to consider applications for re-; ducing rates on areas coven-! anted with the National Trust

The Nature Conservation' Council was prompted to look into rate rebates by a)' letter from an Onewhero resident concerned that bush; areas on farms would disappear if stock continued to graze them. The letter said that rates on farms were now so high that, farmers were forced to use all available land.

Relief from payment of rates is seen as a necessary, protective measure, giving farmers an incentive. The Nature Conservation Council has asked the Counties Association to recommend’ such schemes to its merribers.