NZ's a land blessed with beauty

Ian McKelvie Photo/File

Our natural environment is one of our greatest assets.

New Zealand is blessed with spectacular landscapes and an abundance of wildlife and we in the Rangitikei are more fortunate than most. Access to them underpins our Kiwi way of life.

At the heart of National's "Bluegreen" approach is the belief that economic growth and improving the environment can and must go hand-in-hand. A stronger economy can better provide the means to restore, maintain and enhance the environment.

I truly believe that environmental issues are too important to be left to the fringe of politics. It should be a mainstream issue for all New Zealanders.

We, and millions of tourists each year, enjoy some of the most pristine and accessible natural beauty in the world. In the Rangitikei Electorate, particularly in the north and east, we rely heavily on this beauty for our recreation and tourism income.

Unfortunately, predators threaten our native wildlife. Rats, stoats and possums kill 25 million native birds every year. Even our most iconic species - the brown kiwi - which once numbered in the millions is now down to about 25,000 and without intervention will not exist in the wild for our grandchildren.

Protecting our endangered native species is our number one conservation challenge.

That's why National has launched the Department of Conservation's largest-ever species protection programme - "Battle for Our Birds".

A predator plague poses a serious threat to our endangered native wildlife this autumn. The Battle for Our Birds protection programme will extend pest control. Mainly using 1080, it will cover an extra 500,000ha of forest to help protect 12 key species including kiwi, kaka, kea and of course the blue duck, which inhabits some of our most beautiful streams.

The National-led government has also established three new marine reserves recently, which surround the Antipodes Islands, the Bounty Islands and the Campbell Islands in New Zealand's sub-Antarctic ocean. These areas are considered some of the most pristine marine environments in the world, and the reserves aim to keep them that way.

The combined size of the areas coming under protection is 13 times larger than the total area of all the reserves on New Zealand's three main islands.

Within these reserves no fishing, mining, petroleum exploration or marine farming is allowed. This ensures total protection for a diverse range of wildlife as well as the preservation of our precious natural heritage.

National remains committed this year to creating a record number of marine reserves. It is part of our balanced programme of economically developing some ocean areas, while setting others aside for permanent protection.

National is working hard to provide real leadership on conservation challenges - and in a sensible "Bluegreen" way. We recognise the importance of balancing conservation concerns with economic ones.

Conservation is about protecting our natural resources so every generation can enjoy our way of life and the beauty of our great outdoors.