Basin’s unique values ‘at risk’

A ‘‘radical shift’’ in management is needed to protect the Mackenzie Basin from ongoing damage, the Environmental Defence Society (EDS).

The Basin is managed by the Mackenzie and Waitaki district councils in addition to Environment Canterbury, the Department of Conservation and Land Information New Zealand.

‘‘The Mackenzie Basin is the only place in the country where it is still possible to see the entire intact glacial sequence from existing glaciers in the Southern Alps, through to moraines, outwash terraces and plains,’’ EDS policy director Raewyn Peart said.

‘‘It is home to a vast array of indigenous species, many of which are rare and especially adapted to the very harsh cold and dry climate.

‘‘Our current research indicates that we need a radical shift in the way we are managing the Mackenzie Country’s landscapes,’’ Peart said.

‘‘Due to weak and conflicting policies, and poor agency performance, the Basin is close to losing its unique natural and cultural values.’’

Pressures on the region over a long period included pastoral farming, rabbits, hydro generation, wilding pines, irrigation and intensive dairying.

‘‘A key driver for our review, and for EDS’s wider landscape study, within which this case study sits, was concern at loss of landscape and natural values through incremental land use change on the Basin floor, especially through large-scale dairy conversions,’’ she said.

‘‘In the report, we review the development of Simons Pass Station and the adjacent Simons Hill Station which were slated to house up to 15,000 dairy cows, which would make it the largest dairy farm in Australasia; how roughly 80 separate consents were obtained for this development makes a telling story of system failure.’’

The report outlines how existing management tools could be used more effectively, as well as outlining new initiatives which could be supported through government funding.

‘‘While management has been particularly disjointed in the past, agencies have now joined up their efforts and there seems to be considerable will to put things right,’’ Peart said.

‘‘We see great potential in applying a new approach to the way we manage landscapes in New Zealand and the Mackenzie Country is a great place to start.’’

Recommendations made include the establishment of a joint-agency compliance, monitoring and enforcement unit in Twizel; the creation of a ‘‘Mackenzie Basin Heritage Landscape’’ with protections under the Resource Management Act or Conservation Act; and the establishment of a ‘‘Mackenzie Drylands Protected Area’’.

The report acknowledges a number of positive initiatives in the Basin and that agencies ‘‘have to a large extent ‘owned’ the criticisms and put in remedial measures’’.

‘‘However, we are not convinced that this will provide sufficient certainty in the long term, particularly if political interest and will wanes,’’ it says.

‘‘We have therefore also suggested that a new model for landscape protection be developed and applied to the Mackenzie Basin.’’

The agencies responsible for the area have welcomed the report.

‘‘However, we acknowledge there is much more to do and the case study provides innovative ideas, some of which we’re already pursuing and others we need to consider further,’’ ECan acting chief executive Stefanie Rixecker said on behalf of the group.