A few months ago I was privileged to be appointed to the Otago Conservation Board. Such appointments are made by the Minister of Conservation. The first duty of a member is to work to achieve the statutory interests of the board.
Members are not representatives for any cause or organisation. Board meetings are public, and organisations can ask to be heard at them.
There are 15 Boards in NZ and each one is independent of any other body, and have a statutory obligation to represent the public interest in DOC’s work, and conservation in general within their region by advising DOC and the New Zealand Conservation Authority on planning and strategic direction.
A board can be requested by DOC to advise on issues like biodiversity, the use of public land, and concessions (a business may apply to use such land for their operations).
One of the first ones I became involved with was commenting on some old historic dwelling in the Aramoana Spit near Dunedin. In this case the owners of the houses have applied for a concession for them to stay on Conservation Land. They were built maybe 80 years ago, predating not only DOC, but goodness what other land designation.
Some field trip notes and images
The view along the spit – north is to the left. The 4 dwellings are at the far end, 3 of under the large trees. Note that 40 years ago the dunes were further to the left – right up to the tide line in fact. This is also the most popular beach for locals swimming.On the other side of the dunes, to the south towards Dunedin, there are very extensive salt mudflats. The locked access road to the dwellings sidles along the south side of the dunes, with the very extensive salt mud flats on the right. It seems perfectly placed to not interfere with the local wildlife, which at the moment consists of sea lions in the dunes near the houses, and not penguins. Perhaps they’re not compatible?There are a few gullies through the dunes that lead to the beach from the access road. Yes, those are dog prints.Great views of Tairoa Heads. The first dwelling on the extreme right – the 3 far more substantial houses are under the trees…I loved the kiwiana style, and btw this is not one of the pilot’s houses. At this point there is an imaginary line between dunes and sea lion habitat to the photographers right, while at the left starts a different vegetation zone comprised of seemingly of a bit less sand.The second pilot’s house really close by, with path to the beach…More kiwanaAt this point the environment to the south, towards Dunedin is no longer salt marshThis roof faces the sunny north!Out on the spit, as opposed to the dunes, we have a few invasive speciesOne way to enjoy the view northSea lion pup asleep in the dunes
At the time of publishing here a submission has been sent to DOC of the Board’s recommendations, but at this point I don’t know what the outcome will be.
