PCE submission on the implementation plan for New Zealand's Biodiversity Strategy

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has made a submission to the Department of Conservation on its draft implementation plan for New Zealand’s Biodiversity Strategy.

While he supports a number of the proposed actions, particularly around prioritisation, monitoring and reporting, he warns that these actions alone will not be enough to meet New Zealand’s biodiversity targets.

The Commissioner further states: “None of the actions proposed in the discussion document relate to what – in my view – are the two most important objectives in the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy: that ecosystems and species are protected, restored, resilient and connected from mountain tops to ocean depths, and that natural resources are managed sustainably. Taken at face value, this seems to suggest that DOC believes that no additional work is required to achieve these goals.”