Unnatural divides: Species protection in a fragmented legal landscape.

Abstract

Human use and development reshapes land, reconstitutes water, consumes space and natural resources and alters faunal compositions. This presents significant challenges to policy makers and wildlife conservation managers mandated to maintain and enhance biological diversity. In New Zealand a sizeable public conservation estate (approximately one third of the land area) buffers these inroads; however, limitations in terms of the representativeness and extent of the estate (Ministry for the Environment, 2007, p.3; Craig et al., 2000, p.66), conservation management budgetary constraints (Controller and AuditorGeneral, 2012, p.26) and elevated levels of threatened endemic species (IUCN, 2013) mean that more universal efforts are required to protect threatened species in all environments in New Zealand.