Protecting biodiversity in Central Otago
Otago skink (Oligosoma otagense). Image – James Reardon.
Most of New Zealand’s threatened indigenous dryland biodiversity is on land that is privately or commercially owned and faces multiple threats, including agricultural land clearance, pests and weeds. Public awareness of the need to conserve this biodiversity is extremely low, and only a small fraction of such lands is protected. There is therefore a need to raise public awareness and motivate and incentivise private landowners and regulatory authorities to increase protection of drylands. Grant Norbury and Susan Walker see three complementary ways of doing this. Firstly, by improving biodiversity knowledge and awareness to motivate communities and individuals to protect drylands. Secondly, by regulation to safeguard against activities that damage drylands. Thirdly, by providing individual private landowners with financial incentives to encourage and assist them to protect biodiversity on their properties. All three approaches are used, but they are often weak or ineffectual, and indigenous biodiversity continues to decline on private land. With notable exceptions, district councils tasked with maintaining biodiversity under the Resource Management Act are usually unskilled and poorly resourced in this area. More importantly, they are unmotivated because of perceived or actual conflicts with their economic development role. Furthermore, there is no national biodiversity policy to guide agencies on biodiversity targets and provide much-needed bottom-line standards for inactive councils (although a draft National Policy Statement is currently out for consultation).
Part of the solution is to train and motivate territorial authorities and others in biodiversity recovery and management. Over the last five years, Landcare Research has been helping in this process by undertaking three biodiversity initiatives in partnership with other agencies in Central Otago. This district is critical for dryland conservation and supports the greatest diversity of dryland habitat types. Nearly 90% of Otago’s threatened plants occur in dryland habitats, as well as many threatened invertebrate and lizard species, but formally protected dryland areas are scarce (only 3% of Otago).
The initiatives undertaken include:
A biodiversity forum
Landcare Research, Central Otago District Council, and DOC jointly organised a public biodiversity forum, as part of the Alexandra Thyme Festival in 2010. The irony of holding a forum on indigenous biodiversity during a festival that celebrates one of the district’s most noxious weeds did not go unnoticed! A number of experts gave talks on Central Otago’s pre-human ecology,remnant plant communities, pests and weeds, ecological restoration, and the role of government in balancing interests between conservation and economic development. A lively open-forum discussion followed. The talks will be packaged into a CD with accompanying material on dryland ecology and distributed to all territorial authorities in the dryland zone.
The Central Otago Ecological Trust
In 2005, the local community in the Alexandra Basin formed the Central Otago Ecological Trust to restore dryland habitat and indigenous lizard communities. In doing so, they created a flagship to promote awareness about indigenous biodiversity in the district. The Trust has reintroduced critically endangered Otago skinks, which have been locally extinct for 40 years, into a new mammal-proof sanctuary, where baby skinks are now being recruited into the population. Its work with the local museum has led to three skinks being on public display and their feeding times becoming a great draw-card for the museum. Lizard conservation now appears regularly in local newspapers, radio, television, and school curricula. Even a skink float was entered into the Alexandra Blossom Festival last year! These activities have raised the profile of dryland conservation in central Otago.
Building relationships with the Central Otago District Council
Staff from Landcare Research arranged a field day at Waikerikeri Station where a QEII National Trust covenant has recently been established. Also present were the council’s CEO, five councillors, two high-country farmers, and the manager of DOC’s Biodiversity Condition and Advice Fund. Maps of the extent of National Priority One Environments in the district were displayed. Councillors were surprised at the large extent of this critically threatened environment in Central Otago, and the maps highlighted the importance of protecting lowland native communities in the area. The attendees inspected the covenanted land, talked about its biodiversity values, and discussed options and external funding opportunities for the council to establish a biodiversity protection programme.
This work was funded by the Department of Conservation, Central Otago District Council, Central Lakes Trust, Otago Community Trust, and the World Wide Fund for Nature.