Tackling illegal operators, international visitors trial, concession changes afoot and more... No Images? Click here Our relationship with you and the business you operate on public conservation land is important to us. This newsletter is designed to help you run your business and contains practical information relevant to your permit or concession. If you have any feedback on how we can improve Business on the Green, please let us know. Help us boost our visitor campaignIt has been a couple of months since the DOC Summer campaign rolled out across the internet and the country. We have had some great results already! The campaign includes specific messaging for visitors around littering, interaction with wildlife, toileting, safety and use of drones. So far we have reached 1.8 million individual screens through digital advertising, and more than 230,000 people have watched our campaign video. This is an encouraging start, but summer is not over yet. The campaign runs until after Easter. We’d love your support by sharing our video or using one of our other resources (e.g. banners, posters, email signatures) on your website and/or other digital channels. If you have any feedback on the campaign contact Dawn Muir – dmuir@doc.govt.nz Illegal operators feel the stingDOC’s compliance focus has increased for a second year running with officers targeting illegal operators at key tourist sites this summer. This includes those operating without a concession, and those flouting the terms of an existing concession. Targeted large scale operations have been run at five high volume tourist sites, with a further two planned before the end of summer. During just one of these operations DOC rangers checked 193 vehicles – 146 were found to be compliant, 40 in breach of their concession in some way, and 7 were operating without a concession. In addition to targeted operations, warranted staff around the country are also undertaking compliance work. For example, local rangers found a crew filming without a concession in Tongariro National Park. The crew had also acted illegally by taking their vehicle off road, and are liable to face prosecution. Overall the percentage of operators complying with the conditions of their concession has been pleasingly high; and the majority of illegal operators have since applied for the appropriate concession. However, we will undertake further investigation and prosecute where appropriate – so watch this space. Alternatively we can revoke existing concessions if operators are found to be repeatedly offending. Last but not least, summer is not over yet! Please continue to help us keep other operators honest by reporting suspicious or illegal activity to our 24-hour hotline 0800 DOC HOT. New Director Central North IslandDamian Coutts is the new Operations Director for the Central North Island. Damian has spent the last three and a half years running a regional tourism organisation; and has previously held roles in DOC as Operations Director for the Central and Lower North Island regions. If you are in the Central North Island and have an important issue to discuss contact him on dcoutts@doc.govt.nz We have also recently appointed Laura White (lwhite@doc.govt.nz) as Director Pricing and Economics; and Steve Taylor (stevetaylor@doc.govt.nz) as Director Heritage and Visitors. Damian Coutts, Operations Director, Central North Island Ngāi Tai Supreme Court decisionThe Supreme Court released its decision in the Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki Tribal Trust v Minister of Conservation case in December last year. The Auckland iwi argued that DOC did not properly give effect to section 4 of the Conservation Act when granting concessions to conduct commercial activities on Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands. The court found that section 4 was not properly applied in the challenged decisions. The judgement underscores the strength of section 4 of the Conservation Act, which requires DOC to ‘give effect’ to the principles of the Treaty. We are currently working to assess the full implications of the decision. National Park Management Plan reviews pausedIn February we agreed to pause the review of both the Aoraki/Mount Cook and Westland Tai Poutini national park management plans. The decision came at the request of Ngāi Tahu, so the implications of the recent Supreme Court’s decision relating to Ngāi Tai and how it may relate to the notified draft plans can be worked through. We are aware that people have raised concerns about several issues such as noise and strategies for dealing with increased visitor numbers. Once consultations with Ngāi Tahu have progressed we will come back and talk to people about their concerns. International walkers pricing trialOur trial of differential pricing, on four Great Walks (Milford, Kepler, Routeburn and Abel Tasman) has been running since October. It involves international visitors paying around double the amount of Kiwis for these walks. We’re aiming to get better understanding how pricing can help manage high visitor demand, and increase revenue while balancing costs between taxpayers and visitors. Most importantly, we want to improve access to these outstanding experiences for people who live in New Zealand. Abel Tasman Coast Track. Photo: DOC The results of the trial are now being evaluated. We’d like to thank those concessionaires who responded to our on-line survey. Changes afoot for one-off concessionsOne-off concessions account for over 50% of our concession applications annually; and we know the process is not as quick and easy as it could be. We’re currently reviewing ‘one-offs’ to see where improvements can be made. One change we’ll be making shortly is to rename these authorisations ‘short-term’ concessions to better reflect their purpose (i.e. a single or repeated activity over a short period of time). We know ‘one-off’ is something the public has found confusing. We’ll let you know, and update our website, when anything changes. In the meantime, if you have any feedback for us click the button below. Tongariro Rafting give whio a helping handMarch is Whio Awareness Month, and we’d like to give a shout out to a concessionaire who has helped build a whio protection programme on the Tongariro River. Tongariro River Rafting established the Blue Duck Charitable Trust with other business owners over 10 years ago. The company works with the community to manage 800 traps on 42km of the river. A whio / blue duck floating on the Tongariro River. Photo: Malcolm Swanney Guests on their rafting and fishing trips help to clear traps and are very likely to see whio in the wild while they paddle the river. There is even a dedicated Blue Duck rafting trip, with proceeds going directly towards conservation efforts. Aircraft landings – Ombudsman's reportDOC has been trying to balance the increased demand for more tourist flights with the impact on conservation and the environment, but we accept we got it wrong with the Ngapunatoru Plateau. A report from the Ombudsman last year found that we should not have initiated a trial to increase the number of landings on the Plateau and that we need to work within the limits set by the Fiordland National Park Management Plan. We are now working through a process to determine the best way to allocate aircraft landings on Ngapunatoru Plateau. We have already cancelled the trial and reverted to pre-trial landing numbers. It’s important to us that all interested parties are engaged in finding solutions and we are working with our Treaty Partner Ngāi Tahu throughout the design of a new allocation process. We are also committed to improving our monitoring processes and compliance checks for these aircraft to ensure that operators are meeting their concession requirements. Talk to DOC at TRENZWe are attending TRENZ again this year and our representative will be available to discuss any concession / permit related questions or opportunities. Register your interest in meeting with us and we will contact you to arrange an appointment. DOC stand at TRENZ 2018. Photo: DOC Upcoming guiding fee changesWe are still working towards setting new activity fees for guiding concessions, and will be undertaking further consultation. Tahr control work resumesWe’re resuming Himalayan tahr control work. These operations are vital to protecting the unique alpine landscapes of the South Island. Latest population estimates put the tahr population at nearly 35 thousand animals on conservation land, well above the limit of 10,000 tahr set out in control plans. DOC is working with all stakeholders to control 10,000 tahr on public conservation land by the end of August. A group of Himilayan tahr on conservation land. Photo: Dylan Higgison Visitors and dronesResponsible drone use features in our Summer Visitor Campaign. The key message for visitors is to, ‘arrange a permit before you visit if you want to fly a drone over conservation land or near marine mammals.’ We’ve had record numbers of applications for drones so far this summer, so hopefully this message is getting through. Your help spreading this information with members of the public under your guidance is much appreciated. Tramping safety tools to shareIf your customers are likely to go tramping, with or without your guidance, the Mountain Safety Council have safety resources for you to share:
Include any of these tools on your website and other digital channels to promote safety and planning to your audience. Tourism huiLast month a hui was held with senior DOC staff, TIA, TEC, Bus and Coach Association and concessionaries. The meeting gave concessionaires the opportunity to share their concerns around relationships and engagement; and discuss how best to work together in the future. DOC and the TIA re-confirmed the importance of our relationship and have agreed to continue to meet regularly; with another meeting scheduled in March. Help prevent the spread of kauri diebackHelp prevent the spread of kauri dieback Kauri are one of Aotearoa's unique taonga. But kauri dieback disease is threatening them with extinction. There is no cure, and it can be spread by just a pinhead of soil. DOC recently produced a video on how to use our cleaning stations and prevent the spread of the disease. Take a look to familiarise yourself with the correct procedures. It’s vital concessionaires, and members of the public under your guidance, lead by example by sticking to the track and using the available cleaning stations correctly when visiting our kauri forests. Is there something you would like to see in this newsletter? Email us at businessonthegreen@doc.govt.nz |