CONTROL OF RESERVES AND SANCTUARIES

Forest and Bird, Issue 8, 1 March 1925, Page 12

CONTROL OF RESERVES AND SANCTUARIES

URGENT REFORMS NEEDED.

New Zealand has the weirdest possible way of dealing' with its scenic reserves and sanctuaries for native fauna and flora (says a writer in “Truth”). Some of the scenic reserves are under the Commissioners for Crown Lands. (Policy No. 1.) One of the greatest, the Tongariro National Park, is under a board consisting of a large number of officials, Government nominees, and ex-officio persons (like the Mayors for the time being of Auckland and Wellington, who may be persons utterly out of touch with scenic, indigenous, and playground values). (This is policy No. 2.) Another great national park (Mt. Egmont) is also under a board, but there the resemblance to Tongariro ceases, because the Mt. Egmont Park Board is for the most part elected, and elected locally.. (Policy No. 3.) Kapiti Island sanctuary gets away from an empowered board. ; It is run by the Lands . Department, with the aid of a merely Advisory Board. (Policy. No. 4.) Here is a medley of methods to begin with. .

Again,; there are ever so many Government Departments with some sort of a finger in the management of reserves and sanctuaries, game, etc. The Lands Department controls a number of reserves and forests. ... ...... The .Forest Service controls a number. The Tourist Department gets its oar in somewhere. The Department of Internal Affairs interferes in a number of matters concerning game, etc. And this seems to. be the Department that bosses collectors’ permits, a factor of great danger. Fish seems to be partly under the last two Departments, and also under the Marine Department. And the Marine Department’s lighthouse-keepers, in some cases, are in a position to help (or not to help) the native fauna. . To complete the Babel, the acclimatisation societies fall in at the tail of the departmental procession. - And the police are occasionally pressed into the service, where poaching is con l cerned. Anything more weirdly ineffective than this network of authorities, mostly incompetent or inactive, it would be hard to imagine.