Conclusion
Aoraki/Mt Cook - supplying
water to the Benmore Dam
While the intrinsic values and recreation benefits of public conservation land are well known, the economic and health benefits are assuming increasing significance.
Failure to appreciate non-market values such as ecosystem services carries a risk of deterioration of natural capital in New Zealand, with consequences including increased flood risk, reduced whitebait catches, impoverished tourism experience, and damage to our clean, green image.
The first steps in preventing further decline in ecosystems (and the services they provide) are to recognise that they have economic values, and to attempt to measure at least some of them. Armed with this information, the Department hopes to make better-informed conservation decisions, and increase public awareness of what is at stake in our national parks and, generally, on public conservation land.