Access
Legislation

ACAT’s submission on proposed access charges for conservation land

ACAT recently made a submission to the Department of Conservation regarding its exploration of charges for access to some conservation land.

We want to thank climbers for their ideas and input, these helped greatly in creating a submission that presented a well rounded picture from a climbing perspective. Read our executive summary and the full submission below.

Person in the distance, walking across a wire bridge.

Crossing the Hollyford River. Photo: Derek Cheng

Executive summary

ACAT’s primary concern is to ensure that recreational access to and across conservation land, including access for rock climbing, does not suffer as a result of proposed access charges. 

New Zealanders currently enjoy free recreational access to conservation land under DOC’s management. Loss of recreational access and opportunities in the vast land areas in question would be a blow to New Zealand’s treasured culture of outdoor adventure, recreation, and connection with nature. 

We strongly oppose charging New Zealand residents for access to public conservation land. New Zealand has a proud egalitarian tradition, and ensuring free, universal access to public conservation land is consistent with the national character of our country and one of the things that makes this country a great place to live. Access charges would raise barriers to Kiwis enjoying our outdoor taonga and create equity issues for the less well off.  

If any charges were to be applied to NZ residents (reiterating our opposition to this): 

  • They should be limited to the most popular tourist hotspots where management of numbers, and maintenance costs, are a significant issue for DOC; 
  • Charges should be low, with discounts or exemptions for volunteers, young people, mana whenua, and those on low incomes.   
  • Annual parks passes or other measures should be provided to cater for recreationists who access public land frequently; 
  • Any revenue raised should only be used as part of an increase in overall conservation funding, not to facilitate or excuse recent or further cuts to DOC’s core funding.  

We cautiously support the proposal of access charges for international visitors, provided the needs of recreationists such as travelling rock climbers are properly considered. These differ significantly from the average tourist profile.  

Read ACAT’s full submission on exploring access charges to conservation land.