Advice on Te Mana o te Taiao resourcing

To: Lou Sanson, Director General of Conservation
Date: 25 March 2021

At the February 2021 meeting, the Authority received an update and overview of the Department’s planning to implement the Te Mana o te Taiao / Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy. This was an encouraging presentation, and I would like to take this opportunity to commend Julie Knauf and her team on their korero.

The Authority has previously discussed with you the importance of the successful implementation of this strategy and, on 16 December 2020, communicated this as a priority for expenditure of money in preparation for the 2021-22 budget.

Our perseverance in highlighting the importance of this mahi, is driven by the failure to fully implement the previous Biodiversity Strategy, a reality that has risk of repeating itself. After all, without adequate funding there will not be implementation. I write to you today to re-affirm the Authority’s position that sufficient resource should be allocated to the implementation team in the Department’s strategic planning for the 2021-22 year.

The Authority wrote to the Minister on 14 January 2021, to urge increased advocacy for an all-of-government response and prioritisation of this work; we will continue to be strong advocates for this strategy and in the Department’s work to realise it.

No reira
E noho ora mai

Edward Ellison ONZM
Chairperson NZCA