Amelia McQueen: Exchange of DoC land falls short

New Zealand falcon

The letter to the editor by Andrew Newman in Hawke's Bay Today on July 25, on the proposed land exchange, requires a more in-depth look at the Department of Conservation "Ruahine Conservation Park -- change of status" process to date.

It is important to realise that there are two specific parts to what has broadly been termed the land exchange or land swap.

Firstly, as I have explained in a previous Hawke's Bay Today Talking Point, the DoC conservation land with the status of "specially protected" must be revoked, that is demoted to stewardship land before any land exchange can occur. There need to be strong conservation reasons why the land must be revoked.

The DoC conservation land holds many values, as explained below, that justifies it retaining its status of "specially protected". The revocation of the DoC land will become a legal issue that could well see Forest & Bird or HBRIC contesting the DoC decision -- "to revoke or not to revoke" -- in court. This process may take some time to resolve and can be seen as an impediment to proceeding with the Ruataniwha Water Storage Scheme.

Discussion on whether the land exchange would enhance conservation value is the other side of this issue. In this case, land exchange must be seen to be equivalent or ultimately "trading up". How do we judge whether an exchange is equivalent or better? This is where there is a need to use the "like-for-like" principle in any assessment, otherwise it can be very hard to judge whether you are getting an "enhancement to conservation value". Taking the exchange in question:

* A lowland, riverine ecosystem that contains significant and distinct wetlands, a section of rare braided river, shrublands and forest which contains specific habitats for threatened species and has a range of threatened species such as North Island fernbird, red mistletoe, indigenous fish species present. Compared with;

* An upland region that represents a greater altitudinal range, less distinct wetlands (but still on the whole significant), no braided river systems and lower order streams that are likely to contain a lower diversity of threatened fish and no fernbird or red mistletoe?

The DoC conservation land meets all of the Ministry for the Environment's National Priorities for Protection explained in the public document: Protecting our Places (2007). To put it simply:

* The DoC conservation land has Acutely Threatened land environments. These are land environments where there are less than 10 per cent of these environments left within New Zealand and are the first national priority for protection.

* The DoC conservation land contains rare and uncommon ecosystems such as braided river and an oxbow wetland which are the second and third national priority for protection.

* The DoC conservation land has specific habitats for a range of threatened species, for example, New Zealand long-tailed bat, New Zealand falcon, North Island fernbird, red mistletoe and indigenous fish species, and is the fourth national priority for protection. It is also worth noting that these species are also a top priority for protection within the National Biodiversity Strategy.

If the land exchange showed that the Smedley Block indeed had a greater area of Acutely Threatened environments, rare ecosystems such as braided river and distinctive wetlands, greater habitat area for fernbird and indigenous fish (second order streams), and the same or greater variety of threatened species than those found within the DoC exchange block, then the justification that the exchange "enhances conservation values" would be far more compelling.

Reports and submissions are publicly available on the DoC website, under: get-involved/have-your-say/all-consultations/2014. Here the reader can gauge for themselves that the DoC exchange area comprises of significant wetland and riparian vegetation and has mature beech and podocarp trees despite being logged in places and has regenerating podocarps and an intact understory.

Furthermore, the forest surrounding a part of the DoC exchange area does not "isolate" it from the Ruahine Forest Park. To the contrary, it acts as a corridor for native birds such as fernbirds and provides a buffer for parts of the Forest Park.

In contrast, the indigenous forest within the Smedley block does not have an intact understory due to grazing.

The pasture grassland will take longer than our lifetimes to become large mature podocarps. "Rapidly" depends on perspective.

"Public estate gains" from DoC/Smedley exchange must clearly show significant gains in conservation value. This exchange falls short.

* Dr Amelia McQueen is a senior lecturer, School of Applied Science at EIT and a Member of the Te Taiao Hawke's Bay Environment Forum

* Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz.

* Viewpoints on the amalgamation debate can be submitted for consideration and will be used as long as no council resources, money, time or expertise are used in their preparation. This is a requirement of the Local Government Act 2002.