General Policy
What is general policy?
General Policy provides overarching national policy to guide the implementation of conservation law when managing public conservation lands and other conservation matters.
The Department of Conservation has prepared two draft statements of General Policy, and invited public submission. One draft statement applies to the National Parks Act (National Parks General Policy) and the other (Conservation General Policy) applies to the Conservation Act and other related legislation. Public submissions were invited on the draft statements.
Ngāi Tahu and General Policy
General Policy will directly affect the way the Department manages key areas and species of cultural significance to Ngāi Tahu. Additionally, the General Policy will affect the management of taonga fish species, some native game bird species, and specific land parcels for which Ngāi Tahu has a specific role as a Statutory Advisor to either the Minister of Conservation or Fish & Game.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu submitted on the Draft National Parks General Policy Statement and the Draft Conservation General Policy Statement.
Summary of Ngāi Tahu submission Draft General Policy National Parks Act:
December 2003
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu support the New Zealand Conservation Authority decision to review the General Policy for National Parks, noting that the policy gave limited recognition of Treaty of Waitangi issues. As the NZCA is aware, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has concerns over the conservation legislation because the legislation does not embody a tangata whenua perspective on conservation. For this reason, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has advocated for a legislation review over all the pieces of conservation legislation, including the National Parks Act, to allow a reassessment of the legislation in light of the Treaty of Waitangi. To date this has been unsuccessful, but we consider the General Policy review to be an opportunity to better reflect the Section 4 Treaty obligations into Departmental and NZCA policy. As part of the process of the development of the General Policy by the Department, however, it was agreed that where the legislation was unable to adequately address Section 4 issues, this would be noted for closer examination, with potential to look at some legislation amendments in the future. Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu recommends to the NZCA and the Department that this next step in the General Policy process be followed up and requests involvement in the identification of those areas where the legislation may need to be amended.
Summary of Ngāi Tahu submission General Policy Conservation Act:
December 2003
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has concerns over the conservation legislation in that the legislation does not embody a tangata whenua perspective on conservation. Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has advocated for a legislation review over all the pieces of conservation legislation to allow a reassessment of the legislation in light of the Treaty of Waitangi. To date this has been unsuccessful, but we consider the General Policy review to be an opportunity to better reflect the section 4 Treaty obligations into Departmental policy. As part of the process of the development of the General Policy, however, it was agreed that where the legislation was unable to adequately address section 4 issues, this would be noted for closer examination, with potential to look at some legislation amendments in the future. Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu recommends to the Department that this next step in the General Policy process be followed up and requests involvement in the identification of those areas where the legislation may need to be amended.
Links for further information:
The Department of Conservation is preparing a revised draft of General Policy, in light of the submissions that have been received. A summary of submissions can be found here: www.doc.govt.nz.
When this is finalised, the Department will make a decision as to whether the revised draft will be re-notifed.