Parks’ identity threatened?

Press, 1 December 1987, Page 14

Parks’ identity threatened?

PA Wellington National parks are in danger of losing their identity, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society said recently when it released a charter for national parks and protected natural areas. The society’s president, Dr Alan Mark, said that the Conservation Department needed to create a separate National Parks Division to maintain the special identity, which was being submerged by the new department’s administration. The Tongariro Declaration — A Charter for National Parks and Protected Natural Areas, the Next 100 Years — was released by the society’s 100-strong council at its recent meeting at Tongariro National Park. Dr Mark said that it was appropriate to release such a charter during the centennial of national parks. “While this is a time for celebration, it is also a time of considerable concern for the future of our parks system. Radical changes in public land ownership, its administration and funding and our

traditional social philosophy has meant that the present and future of the system is not as secure as it should be after 100 years," Dr Mark said. Problems relating to national parks that the department had to come to grips with included national park identity, funding, public involvement, wild animal control, an unwieldy reserves system, a lack of marine reserves, mining and an unsatisfactory level of scientific research into parks. Each national park should be managed as a single entity, he said. Mount Aspiring National Park falls into three Department districts, each of which has its own district conservator. Funding for parks must come from a specific vote, and parks should not have to rely on tourism grants or income from concessions. Dr Mark said public involvement in national parks was vital, and that the new conservation quangos must increase the public’s power to participate in policy decisions. Deer, thar goat, pos-

sum, wallaby, and chamois control should be one of the -Department’s top priorities, along with control of‘ Introduced weeds .4 • J Dr Mark said marine reserves needed to be created urgently. Examples of overfishing pointed out the need to set aside areas where fish and shellfish were given total protection, even’ from recreational fishermen. “This generation < must ensure that;the creatures and plants which distinguish natural New Zealand are not lost to the world'Tor.. fdl..timq>” Dr Mark saty. n •