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Back the Volunteers
DOC is responsible for more than 950 huts and 15,000 kilometres of tracks. It faces a 30 per cent maintenance shortfall and has issued more than 2,300 closure alerts since 2021.
Hunting, tramping and conservation groups already restore huts, maintain tracks and run trap lines at a fraction of the cost. Too often they survive on annual discretionary grants, with no certainty that they can keep the work going.
ACT would fund capable community groups to deliver the work and let accredited hunting groups earn nature credits for conservation results that can be independently verified
ACT will:
Require DOC to give community groups the first opportunity for funding when they can offer a competitive option for backcountry upkeep.
Allow multi-year contracts so volunteer organisations can plan ahead instead of applying for funding year by year.
Open the Voluntary Nature Credits Market to accredited hunting groups so they can earn credits for verified biodiversity results.
Require formal representation for the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association and Game Animal Council in predator-removal decisions affecting hunters.
In our team's words:
ACT Conservation spokesperson Cameron Luxton says:
“DOC has more than 950 huts and 15,000 kilometres of tracks to look after. It faces a 30 per cent maintenance shortfall and has issued more than 2,300 closure alerts since 2021. The department will not clear that backlog on its own.
“Community groups already restore huts and maintain tracks at a fraction of the cost, but many survive from one discretionary grant to the next. ACT would give them the first opportunity for funding when they can offer a competitive option, including the security of multi-year contracts.”
ACT Deputy Leader Nicole McKee says:
“Hunters are already in the hills running trap lines and removing predators, but the new nature-credit market does not recognise that work. Accredited hunting groups should be able to earn credits when they can show they have delivered real biodiversity gains.
“The New Zealand Deerstalkers Association and Game Animal Council should be formally represented when predator-removal operations affecting hunters are planned. Decisions are better when the people already doing the work are involved from the start, not consulted after everything has been settled.”
ACT candidate and former New Zealand Deerstalkers Association president Callum Sheridan says:
“The hunting community contributes hundreds of thousands of unpaid hours to conservation every year. Backing those groups to deliver measurable results would mean more work gets done in the backcountry and taxpayers get better value for their money.”