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Agreements between iwi and the Department of Conservation could be threatened by government penny pinching.
The department lost more than $11 million from its budget this year and will be down another $8.7 million next year.
Spokesperson Rory Newsam says the department’s major focus is now on working more with external partners, and it’s looking at what staff roles and systems it needs to change to do that.
External partners can include iwi, local government, private landowners and businesses.
Conservation groups say the change will mean large back country projects will suffer, and effort will go into low-risk destination sites such as well-visited national parks.
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