Recent changes to conservation of New Zealand’s native biodiversity

Abstract

This paper presents some observations about recent changes to conservation in New Zealand. It is influenced by practical experience over the past 15 years, first as conservation planner employed by the Department of Conservation, then as an environmentalist involved in community conservation projects. It looks at the development of public-private partnerships in conservation action over the past fifteen years. These changes point to the configuration of new landscapes although the diverse and uncoordinated nature of many contemporary initiatives suggest that future biological communities will comprise a diversity of hybrid mixes from predominantly native to fully non-native species.