Project overview
Between 2021 and 2024 EDS led a multi-year conservation law reform project looking at ways to modernise the system and make it fit for purpose.
Our Conservation Law Reform Project has four deliverables.
Our first report, Conserving Nature: Conservation Reform Issues Paper (2021) identified issues with the conservation system. Our analysis found there is an urgent and compelling need to re-examine the country’s conservation frameworks and update them to more appropriately reflect modern values and needs.
That was followed by two in-depth reviews of the Conservation Management Planning System and the Wildlife Act 1953 which explored solutions and options for specific reform across these topics.
Our final report, Restoring Nature: Reform of the conservation management system (2024) sets out a suite of recommendations to modernise the system through:
- Better provision for Māori;
- A clearer purpose for the conservation system;
- Stronger institutions;
- Reform of the concessions system;
- Measures to address tourism and climate change pressures;
- A streamlined conservation management planning system;
- Reform of the Wildlife Act; and
- Additional funding streams.
We hosted webinars on key findings from our review of the Wildlife Act (watch it here) and final synthesis report Restoring Nature (watch it here).
We thank the Department of Conservation for supporting this work.
Please contact Dr Deidre Koolen-Bourke at deidre@eds.org.nz if you would like to discuss EDS’s conservation work.
