Workshop to consider limits on filming in national parks

Conservation officials say national parks cannot sustain filming of the magnitude of the Lord of the Rings again.

Film, tourism and recreation industry heads and Department of Conservation officials are meeting in Christchurch next month to discuss the issue.

The workshop will look at concerns or problems with filming in national parks.

Lord of the Rings' filming in Tongariro and Kahurangi put the use of national parks under the microscope, resulting in DoC seeking to set management plans in concrete.

The first of these to be decided will include the world heritage and national park of Aoraki-Mt Cook.

Submissions on the draft Aoraki-Mt Cook plan close on April 2 - five days after the Oscars, for which the Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring has scooped 13 nominations, including best picture and best director.

The scenery shot in films in national parks has the potential to provide a huge spin-off for the New Zealand economy.

However, some experts are worried that the pristine wilderness of national parks and New Zealand's unspoiled green beauty image will be tarnished by film crews tramping around the parks.

The March 13 workshop in Christchurch is open to all people interested in filming national parks, says DoC senior management planner Poma Palmer.

DoC's Canterbury conservancy issued the second edition of a draft Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park management plan on February 4.

Mr Palmer expects the revised Aoraki management plan will finally be approved and in place by early next year.

The biggest concerns about filming include direct physical impacts, interaction with visitors, and any imposition on the values of national parks.

Filming has increased substantially in national parks in the past 10 years.

In 1992 two film permits were issued affecting three days. In 1999, 25 film permits were issued with filming on 223 days.

Natural History New Zealand, which has filmed documentaries in the parks for the last 25 years, agrees there should not be unrestricted filming access to national parks.

"We always regards filming access as a privilege and not a right," Natural History NZ managing director Michael Stedman said.

New Zealand high altitude mountaineering expedition leader Guy Cotter believes filming to date has not imposed on national park values.

Cotter had a part in the making of Vertical Limit, a Hollywood movie about climbing K2 on location in New Zealand's Southern Alps.

"Existing guidelines are sufficient to control and manage filming within the park," he said.

Cotter said every film project proposed within the park gained approval only after considerable scrutiny by DoC.

He said the present Aoraki management plan under review had been positive in initiating a lot of response.

- NZPA

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