Glossary

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Abiotic

Relating to physical resources that do not include plants, animals or micro-organisms.

Aircraft

Any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air otherwise than by the reactions of the air against the surface of the earth (section 2, Civil Aviation Act 1990).

Amenities area

Any area of a national park set aside for the development and operation of recreational and public amenities and related services appropriate for the public use and enjoyment of the national park (section 15, National Parks Act 1980).

Animal

Any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish (including shellfish) or related organism, insect, crustacean, or organism of every kind; but does not include a human being (section 2, National Parks Act 1980).

Aquatic Life

Any species of plant or animal life (except birds) that must, at any time of the life history of the species, inhabit freshwater; and includes any part of any such plant or animal (section 2, Conservation Act 1987).

Archaeological site

A site that was associated with human activity that occurred before 1900; or is the site of a wreck of any vessel where that wreck occurred before 1900; and is or may be able through investigation by archaeological means to provide evidence relating to the history of New Zealand (section 2, Historic Places Act 1993).

Authorisation

Collective term for all types of approvals by the Minister and the Director-General of Conservation provided for in a statutory process.

Authority

See New Zealand Conservation Authority.

Biodiversity

The variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and ecological complexes of which they are part. This includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992).

Biosecurity

The exclusion, eradication or effective management of risks posed by pests and diseases to the economy, environment and human health (NZ Biosecurity Strategy 2003).

Biota

All plants, animals and micro-organisms at a place.

Building

Has the same meaning as given to it by sections 8 and 9 of the Building Act 2004.

Burning, prescribed

The controlled application of fire, under specified conditions, to achieve a fire of required intensity and rate of spread to attain planned management objectives.

Bylaw

A bylaw made by the Minister of Conservation, by notice in the New Zealand Gazette, under section 56 of the National Parks Act 1980.

Commercial hunting

Means hunting undertaken by professional hunters for their livelihood and intended to maximise the take or kill of animals. It does not include guided recreational hunting, transportation of recreational hunters, or other means of assistance for recreational hunting for which a consideration is paid.

Concession

A lease, licence, permit or easement, granted under Part IIIB of the Conservation Act 1987 with reference to section 49 of the National Parks Act 1980, to enable the carrying out of a trade, occupation or business.

Companion dog

A dog certified by the Top Dog Companion Trust as being a companion dog or a dog under training as a companion dog (section 56E(3), National Parks Act 1980).

Conservation

The preservation and protection of natural and historic resources for the purpose of maintaining their intrinsic values, providing for their appreciation and recreational enjoyment by the public, and safeguarding the options of future generations (section 2, Conservation Act 1987).

Conservation boards

Conservation boards are established under section 6L of the Conservation Act 1987. The primary functions and powers of conservation boards are set out in the Conservation Act 1987 and the National Parks Act 1980 (sections 6M and 6N, Conservation Act 1987 and section 30, National Parks Act 1980).

Conservation management plan

A plan for the management of natural and historic resources and for recreation, tourism and other conservation purposes which implements a conservation management strategy and establishes detailed objectives for integrated management within a place or places specified in a conservation management strategy (section 17E, Conservation Act 1987).

Conservation management strategy

A strategy which implements general policies and establishes objectives for the integrated management of natural and historic resources, and for recreation, tourism and other conservation purposes. A strategy is reviewed every ten years (section 17D, Conservation Act 1987).

Consultation

An invitation to give advice and consideration of that advice. To achieve consultation, sufficient information must be supplied and sufficient time allowed by the consulting party to those consulted to enable them to tender helpful advice. It involves an ongoing dialogue. It does not necessarily mean acceptance of the other party’s view, but enables informed decision-making by having regard to those views.

Cultural

Societal values with an emphasis on New Zealand/European history and Māori tikanga that are handed down through the generations.

Cumulative effects

An effect which arises over time or in combination with other effects (section 3, Resource Management Act 1991).

Customary use

Gathering and use of natural resources by tangata whenua according to tikanga.

Data

Facts or things used as a basis for decision-making.

Department

Department of Conservation.

Ecological values

Values related to living organisms, their interrelationships with each other and their environments.

Ecosystem

A biological system comprising a community of living organisms and its associated non-living environment, interacting as an ecological unit.

Ecosystem services

A wide range of conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that are part of them, help sustain and fulfil life.

Effect

Any positive or adverse effect; and any temporary or permanent effect; and any past, present or future effect; and any cumulative effect which arises over time or in combination with other effects regardless of the scale, intensity, duration, or frequency of the effect and also includes any potential effect of high probability; and any potential effect of low probability which has high potential impact (section 3, Resource Management Act 1991).

Encampment

Non-designated sites used regularly by private individuals for camping.

Endemic

A species which is native to, as well as restricted to, a particular natural area.

Eradicate

To remove completely.

Facilities

Facilities that enable people to enjoy a range of recreational opportunities including (but not limited to): visitor and information centres, camping areas, tracks and walkways, bridges, huts, roads, car-parking areas, toilets, picnic areas, signs and interpretation panels, viewing platforms, wharves, and boat ramps.

Fire Officer

Person appointed as a Rural Fire Officer pursuant to the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977.

Fish and Game Council

Statutory body with functions pertaining to the management, maintenance and enhancement of the sports fish and game resource of a region in the recreational interests of anglers and hunters (section 26P, Conservation Act 1987). See also definition of game.

Fishery

One or more stocks or parts of stocks or one or more species of freshwater fish or aquatic life that can be treated as a unit for the purposes of conservation or management (section 2, Conservation Act 1987).

Foreshore

Any land covered and uncovered by the flow and ebb of the tide at mean spring tides and, in relation to any such land that forms part of the bed of a river, does not include any area that is not part of the coastal marine area (section 2, Resource Management Act 1991 to which section 2, National Parks Act 1980 refers as successor to the Harbours Act 1950).

Freshwater fish

Includes finfish and shellfish which must at any time in the life history of the species inhabit freshwater, and includes finfish and shellfish that seasonally migrate into and out of freshwater.

Game

Means the wildlife declared to be game specified in the First Schedule to the Wildlife Act 1953. As at the date of the adoption of this General Policy they are all birds viz: black swan, Canada goose, chukar, grey duck, mallard duck, paradise duck, spoonbill duck, partridge, red-legged partridge, pheasant, pukeko, Australian quail, Californian quail and Virginian quail.

Genetic diversity

Variation in the genetic makeup of populations or species.

Habitat

The environment within which a particular species or group of species lives. It includes the physical and biotic characteristics that are relevant to the species concerned.

Historical and cultural heritage

Any building or other structure, archaeological site, natural feature, wāhi tapu, or object, associated with people, traditions, events or ideas, which contributes to an understanding of New Zealand’s history and cultures.

Historic place

(a) Means

• i) any land (including an archaeological site); or
• ii) any building or structure (including part of a building or structure); or
• iii) any combination of (i) and (ii) - that forms part of the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand and lies within the territorial limits of New Zealand; and

(b) includes anything that is in or fixed to such land (section 2, Historic Places Act 1993).

Historic resource

Means an historic place within the meaning of the Historic Places Act 1993, and includes any interest in a historic resource (section 2, Conservation Act 1987).

Indigenous species

Refers to plants and animals that have established in New Zealand without the assistance of human beings and without the assistance of vehicles or aircraft. This includes species that are unique to New Zealand as well as those that may be found elsewhere in the world. Use of the words ‘indigenous’ and ‘native’ have the same meaning in this General Policy.

Information

Includes interpretation.

Integrated conservation management

The management of natural resources, and historical and cultural heritage, and existing or potential activities in a manner which ensures that priorities are clear and that the effects of each activity on others are considered and managed accordingly.

Intellectual property rights

Ownership of knowledge or vested interest in the ownership of knowledge.

Intrinsic value

This is a concept which regards the subject under consideration as having value or worth in its own right independent of any value placed on it by humans.

Introduced species

Species other than indigenous species.

Kaitiakitanga

The exercise of customary practices of guardianship, protection, stewardship and sustainable use by the tangata whenua in relation to ancestral lands, waters, sites, wāhi tapu and other taonga.

Kaitiaki

Guardian.

Mana

Prestige; authority.

Mana whenua

Customary authority exercised by an iwi or hapū or individual in an identified area.

Mātauranga Māori

Māori traditional knowledge.

Mauri

Essential life force, the spiritual power and distinctiveness that enables each thing to exist as itself.

Mining

Means to take, win or extract by whatever means, a mineral existing in its natural state in land, or a chemical substance from that mineral, for the purpose of obtaining the mineral or chemical substance; but does not include prospecting or exploration; and “to mine” has a corresponding meaning (section 2, Crown Minerals Act 1991).

Minister

Minister of Conservation.

National park lands and waters

All land included in a national park where land may include the foreshore, and the bed of a stream, river, tarn or lake and other permanent water bodies, such as peat bogs, wetlands and tidal waters that flow through that area of a national park within the coastal marine area.

It is a matter of legal fact in the case of each national park whether or not ‘park lands’ include foreshore and seabed areas; not all foreshores and seabeds surrounded by or adjoining a national park will have the status of national park.

National park management plan

A national park management plan provides for the management of a national park in accordance with the National Parks Act 1980 (section 45(2), National Parks Act 1980).

National park values

The values outlined in section 4 of the National Parks Act 1980.

Native

Indigenous.

Natural

Existing in or produced by nature.

Natural character

The qualities of an area which are the product of natural processes and, taken together, give it a particular recognisable character. These qualities may be ecological, physical, spiritual or aesthetic in nature.

Natural quiet

Natural ambient conditions in a natural area; the sounds of nature.

Natural state

Unmodified by human activity or introduced fauna or flora.

New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy

A government-approved national strategy (2000) providing an integrated response to New Zealand’s declining indigenous biodiversity, prepared in part to meet a commitment under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

New Zealand Conservation Authority

A national body of 13 appointed members established under section 6A of the Conservation Act 1987. Amongst other functions, it has the statutory responsibility for adopting General Policy for national parks, and approving conservation management strategies and plans and national park management plans (section 6B, Conservation Act 1987 and section 18, National Parks Act 1980).

Order-in-Council

An order made by the Governor-General in Council.

Outcome

A goal or end result of a conservation action or series of actions.

Participation

Contribution of effort, information, and ideas towards the discharge and attainment of the Department’s work.

Partnerships

The relationship between individuals or groups that is characterised by mutual cooperation and responsibility for the achievement of a specific goal.

People and organisations

An inclusive phrase used to refer to all individuals, clubs, companies, councils and other organisations and groups, both public and private, with an interest in the policies of, and actions undertaken by, the Department of Conservation in relation to species and public conservation land and waters.

Personal mobility device

A device designed to transport one person; is propelled by hand or a propulsion system at a maximum speed of 15 km/hour; and is ridden by a disabled person.

Personal water craft (including, but not limited to, jet skis)

Power-driven vessel that has a fully enclosed hull, does not retain water on board if it capsizes, and is designed to be operated by a person standing, sitting or kneeling on the vessel, but not seated within the vessel; and may include space for one or more passengers.

Pest

Any organism, including an animal, plant, pathogen and disease, capable or potentially capable of causing unwanted harm or posing significant risks to indigenous species, habitats and ecosystems.

Place

An area identified in a conservation management strategy or national park management plan for the purposes of integrated management. It may include any combination of terrestrial, freshwater and marine areas and may be determined by a range of criteria including, but not limited to: ecological districts, geological features, catchments, internal departmental, regional or district council or rohe/takiwā boundaries, land status, major recreation or tourism destinations, commonality of management considerations and unique management needs.

Plant

Any angiosperm, gymnosperm, fern or fern ally; and includes any moss, liverwort, alga, fungus, or related organism (section 2, National Parks Act 1980).

Pounamu

New Zealand greenstone as defined in the Ngāi Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act 1997.

Pou whenua

Marker pole or post.

Prescribed burning

See Burning.

Preservation

In relation to a resource, means the maintenance, so far as is practicable, of its intrinsic values (section 2, Conservation Act 1987).

Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi

The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi identified from time to time by the Government of New Zealand.

Private accommodation

Place to live or lodge which is not available to the general public on an open basis.

Protection

In relation to a resource, means its maintenance, so far as is practicable, in its current state; but includes:

• (a) its restoration to some former state; and
• (b) its augmentation, enhancement, or expansion. (section 2, Conservation Act 1987).

Public accommodation

Place to live or lodge in that is open to or shared by all people.

Public interest

Interest that is open to or shared by all people.

Rahui

A restriction or control of specified activities put in place by the tangata whenua as kaitiaki to manage an area in accordance with tikanga.

Ramsar Convention

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources (www.ramsar.org). It was signed by New Zealand in 1976.

Representative

Examples typical of a given indigenous species, habitat or ecosystem that currently occur or once occurred in a place.

Restoration

The active intervention and management of modified or degraded habitats, ecosystems, landforms and landscapes in order to restore indigenous natural character, ecological and physical processes and their cultural and visual qualities. For historic heritage: to return a place as nearly as possible to a known earlier state.

Road

Means:

• (a) a road that is formed and maintained for vehicle use by the public;
• (b) a route that is marked by the Department for vehicle use by the public or identified in a conservation management strategy or national park management plan for use by vehicles generally or for a particular type of vehicle (for example a bicycle) or as a vehicle parking area.

Rohe

Geographical territory of an iwi or hapū.

Salmonids

Means:

• (a) Brown trout (Salmo trutta):
• (b) Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss):
• (c) (American) Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis):
• (d) Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush):
• (e) Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar):
• (f) Quinnat or Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha):
• (g) Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka):

The above sports fish includes any hybrid and the young, fry, ova, and spawn, and any part of any such fish; but does not include salmon preserved in cans and imported into New Zealand.

Site

A defined area within a wider place.

Specially protected area

Any part of a national park set apart as a specially protected area under section 12 of the National Parks Act 1980.

Species

A group of organisms which has evolved distinct common inheritable features and occupies a particular geographic range, and which is capable of interbreeding freely but not with members of other species.

Sports fish

Every species of freshwater fish that the Governor-General may declare, by Order-in-Council, to be sports fish for the purposes of the Conservation Act 1987; examples are trout and salmon.

Sports fish and game management plans

Plans approved by the Minister of Conservation under section 17M of the Conservation Act 1987.

Tangata whenua

Iwi or hapū that has customary authority in a place.

Taonga

Valued resources or prized possessions held by Māori, both material and non-material. It is a broad concept that includes tangible and intangible aspects of natural and historic resources of significance to Māori, including wāhi tapu and intellectual property.

Tapu

Sacred.

The Crown

Her Majesty the Queen acting through ministers and departments of state.

Tikanga

Customary values and practices related to specific iwi and hapū.

Track

A formed but unsealed way for foot traffic.

Utilities

Includes, but is not limited to, structures and infrastructure for telecommunications, energy generation and transmission, oil and gas production and distribution, sewerage provision, water supply and flood control, roads and airstrips, hydrological and weather stations.

Vehicle

Vehicle means any device that is powered by any propulsion system and moves on rollers, skids, tracks, wheels, or other means; and includes any device referred to previously from which the propulsion system has been removed; or the rollers, skids, tracks, wheels, or other means of movement have been removed; and does not include:

• (a) a pushchair or pram;
• (b) a child’s toy;
• (c) a personal mobility device used by a disabled person.

Viability

The ability of a species or a community to persist over time.

Wāhi tapu

Place sacred to Māori in a traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological sense (section 2, Historic Places Trust Act 1993).

Wairua

Life principle, spirit.

Wetlands

Permanent or intermittently wet areas, shallow water or land-water margins. They include swamps, bogs, estuaries, braided rivers, and lake margins.

Whakapapa

Recounting of genealogical lineage; genealogy.

Wilderness Area

Any part of a national park set apart as a wilderness area under section 14 of the National Parks Act 1980.

Wild animal

Wild animal has the meaning set out in the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 and includes: possums; deer, wallabies, thar, wild goats, wild pigs, and chamois (section 2, Wild Animal Control Act 1977).

Wildlife

Any animal (as defined in the Wildlife Act 1953) that is living in a wild state; and includes any such animal or egg or offspring of any such animal held or hatched or born in captivity, whether pursuant to an authority granted under the Wildlife Act 1953 or otherwise; but does not include wild animals subject to the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 (section 2, Wildlife Act 1953).

World Heritage Site

A site designated under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Convention as being of outstanding universal value as a site of cultural or natural heritage.  

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