WWF-New Zealand does not support the Conservation Amendment Bill in its current form.
While the Bill includes some worthwhile administrative improvements, it fundamentally shifts New Zealand's conservation system away from protecting nature and towards enabling greater development on public conservation land.
At a time when Aotearoa New Zealand is facing a biodiversity crisis, improving conservation outcomes must remain the central objective of any reform to our conservation laws.
Our submission calls for the Bill to be withdrawn and substantially rewritten to restore conservation as its overriding purpose, strengthen environmental safeguards, maintain independent oversight, and ensure public conservation land is managed first and foremost for the protection and restoration of nature.