Hunting buffer zones wanted

Press, 7 April 1984, Page 8

Hunting buffer zones wanted

Wellington reporter

A recreational hunting area set up in the central Southern Alps would need adequate buffer zones between it and the two national parks, the National Parks and Reserves Authority has decided. The Land Settlement Board has a proposal before it to set up a recreational hunting area, but neither the Westland nor the Aorangi Park Board was keen.

The authority said if an area were established, adequate buffer zones between the area and two parks would be needed, with careful monitoring of the results, and a future review

of the effectiveness of the buffer zones. The Forest Service and the Lands and Survey Department still had a lot of work to do to establish if a recreational hunting area in the central Southern Alps were possible, said the director of environmental forestry in the Forest Service, Mr K. H. Miers. It would be hard to put two wild animal policies side by side — seeking to examine them in national parks but only to manage them in a recreational hunting area.

The authority declined to give or withhold support for the concept of recreational hunting areas.