Funding to back nature and save our wildlife
New Government funding will see the Department of Conservation invest an extra $76 million over the next four years to address New Zealand’s biodiversity crisis.“More than 4000 of our native plants and wildlife are threatened or at risk of extinction,” said Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage.The funding was allocated as part of Budget 2018 but depended on a detailed business case being completed and approved by the Ministers of Conservation and Finance.The new funding includes:
- Better protection of priority ecosystems - with work on 70% of the top 850 sites, up from 17% of sites.
- An increase in the number of actively managed freshwater catchments – up from 2.5 % to 9.5% of 200 priority catchments.
- An increase in the number of fully managed marine reserves- up from 25% to 41% of marine reserves which will include improved monitoring and enforcement.
- Better management of marine species - with increased liaison with the fishing industry to reduce bycatch and improve management of priority migratory fish species in priority sites.
- A doubling of DOC’s advocacy work under the Resource Management Act to protect threatened species and ecosystems.