Thousands of New Zealanders have taken part in a nationwide day of action against the Government’s Conservation Amendment Bill, with more than 35 protests demanding stronger protection for public conservation land.
The demonstrations stretched from Invercargill to Aotea Great Barrier Island, taking protesters into parks, forests, riverbanks, conservation areas and town centres on Saturday.
Greenpeace, which coordinated the nationwide action alongside local community organisers, says the turnout demonstrates the depth of public opposition to the proposed changes.
More than 35 protests across the motu
The day of action followed weeks of campaigning against the bill, with communities finding their own ways to deliver the message.
At Awaroa/Godley Head in Christchurch, protesters formed the words Hands Off Conservation Land, while elsewhere demonstrators created messages from driftwood, held rallies in public parks and flew banners across conservation areas.
The protests had initially been expected to number more than 30, but Greenpeace says more than 35 actions ultimately took place.
For campaigners, the central concern is whether reform of the Conservation Act will shift the balance away from protecting nature and towards enabling greater commercial activity on conservation land.
Mining and development fears drive opposition
Opponents are particularly concerned about changes to the statutory purpose governing conservation.
Greenpeace says the bill would introduce a greater emphasis on enabling commercial use of conservation land, which it fears could open the door to increased mining and development.
The Government has already retreated from one controversial element of its original proposal.
The bill initially included measures campaigners said could make it easier to dispose of around five million hectares of conservation land, but the Government subsequently committed to removing those provisions.
Opponents say that concession does not go far enough and want the entire bill abandoned.
In the Coromandel, the national mobilisation intersected directly with concerns about mining.
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki joined the day of action at Wentworth Valley, where campaigners are opposing proposed gold mining activity and arguing forests should remain protected from further commercial development.
Whenua, taiao and future generations
For Māori, the debate also carries questions extending beyond recreation and tourism.
Public conservation land can encompass places carrying deep whakapapa connections and relationships with whenua, wai, ngahere and taonga species, making decisions over their future significant for iwi and hapū exercising kaitiakitanga.
The bill also sits within a conservation framework where Te Tiriti obligations have long formed part of the relationship between the Crown and tangata whenua.
That means arguments about conservation reform inevitably intersect with wider questions about who makes decisions over whenua, whose values guide those decisions and what responsibilities are owed to generations still to come.
Campaigners promise this is only the beginning
The Government argues conservation legislation needs modernising and has previously presented its reforms as a way of improving an outdated and complicated system while allowing appropriate economic activity.
Opponents remain unconvinced.
Greenpeace says Saturday’s protests are only the beginning, with another major mobilisation already planned.
Campaigners intend to gather in Auckland next month for a March for Nature, maintaining pressure on the Coalition Government to abandon the Conservation Amendment Bill.
The political significance should not be underestimated.
New Zealand has a long history of environmental campaigns turning conservation into major national political issues, and protesters are attempting to build that kind of momentum again.
From the forests and rivers to the streets and town centres, thousands have now delivered their message.
Hands off conservation land — and if the Government does not listen, campaigners are promising the protests will only get louder.
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