Prime Minister's Media Statement

Prime Minister Helen Clark today launched a national biodiversity strategy aimed at ending the extinctions of native species.

At a function at Parliament to launch the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, the Prime Minister said the government wanted to halt to the decline in New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity and, in places, restore it within a 20 year time frame.

"The Strategy has four key goals. The primary goal is to maintain and restore a full range of New Zealand's habitats and ecosystems, along with populations of all native species across their natural ranges. This is the bottom line nationally if we are to prevent further decline in our indigenous biodiversity. The second goal is to maintain the genetic resources of our important introduced species, which provide much of the foundation for our economy.

"We have also set the goal of actively protecting the biodiversity interests of iwi and hapu. The fourth main goal is enhancing community guardianship of our indigenous species and where they live, and promoting co-ordinated community action to bring species extinction to a halt.

"For New Zealand's national bird the kiwi, for example, this means stemming the decline of all five varieties of kiwi on the mainland across their natural range, with stepped up intensive management in five new kiwi zones. While not saving all populations, it should secure the kiwi genetic pool. Kiwi numbers have been falling rapidly with extinction possible within our lifetimes - unless urgent action is taken now."

Helen Clark said there were nearly 150 actions proposed in the Strategy, which included a mix of new initiatives as well as enhancements of some existing programmes. Some of the priority actions included:

• ending unsustainable logging on Crown-managed land;
• establishing a Royal Commission to review issues raised by genetically modified organisms in New Zealand;
• strengthening partnership arrangements with Maori in managing biodiversity;
• improving support for private landowner initiatives important for biodiversity on their properties;
• stepping up pest and weed control in important biodiversity areas on public conservation lands;
• expanding our network of protected marine areas with a target of protecting 10% of New Zealand's marine environment by 2010;
• enhancing community participation and learning by improving access to biodiversity information;
• becoming better managers by investing in research to fill the gaps in our knowledge, especially pest control techniques;
• enhancing public conservation lands by adding under-represented habitats; and
• improving border control measures and the assessment of risk to our indigenous biodiversity from potential pest species.

Helen Clark said the detail of how much the government would contribute to these actions would be announced as part of the Budget in June.

The Department of Conservation and the Ministry for the Environment prepared the Strategy, assisted by a number of other government departments. It was circulated for discussion in January 1999 and underwent widespread public consultation.

Implementation of the Strategy will be co-ordinated and monitoring by a core ministerial team led by the Minister of Conservation and Local Government, and including the Ministers of Environment, Biosecurity, Fisheries and Agriculture.

Contact: David Lewis 025-409 492, Mark Watts 025-822 734.

For a copy of the strategy contact DOC Science Publications, PO Box 10420, Wellington or email science.publications@doc.govt.nz.

For further information about the biodiversity accolades, contact: Fraser Folster, Minister of Conservation's office, phone 04 471 9821 or 025 947 795.