National wild animal recovery operations permit renewal process
Learn about the completed national WARO permit and land schedule decisions process.

January 2024 update

2023 national WARO permits approved

2023 North and South Island national WARO permit templates have now been approved along with 39 applications for new permits. These are spread across the country, but most are in the South Island.

Key improvements to permit conditions are:

WARO operators are required to send the Department information about their recovery operations. This will provide greater visibility of wild animal removal and compliance, better understand of the biodiversity benefits and inform future conservation management decisions.

  • Information collected includes where operators have flown, where they have shot or captured animals, how many, and of what species and sex.
  • Reporting of unattributable, summarised information on numbers and trends will be publicly available.

The Department can temporarily change WARO access status in an area should it consider necessary for conservation management purposes.

A 5-year term to encourage increased investment in wild animal management while still enabling the Department to respond to changing demands in a reasonable timeframe.

Clarity that thermal imaging and similar equipment can be used by operators during the hours of daylight for easier locating of wild animals.

Wild animal carcass waste is not to be left within 50 metres of a public recreational facility or water body; and

2023 land schedule maps will be made available electronically for use in helicopters which will help pilots stay within WARO accessible areas.

Report on permit decisions (PDF, 2,179)

Reviewing recreational hunting maps

DOC is reviewing recreational hunting maps to see what new land or currently prohibited areas can become “Permitted”. Also, for recreational users, the use of thermal optics is currently prohibited on public conservation land. DOC is currently reviewing permit conditions, and the use of thermal optics is included in this.

The review process will involve seeking feedback from the Firearms Safety Authority, the Game Animal Council, and New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. We will provide an update on the status of thermal optic use for recreational hunters after the review process.  

Optimising hunting as wild animal control tools

DOC is looking at how to optimise commercial and recreational hunting, alongside Crown agency control operations, as tools to effectively control populations of wild animals, like deer. As part of this work, an independent systems analysis of WARO has been commissioned to define problems that might merit work on future improvements.

This is not a review of WARO. Its purpose is to provide an up-to-date analysis of views and data around WARO to provide a comprehensive understanding of issues and identify opportunities to build its contribution to wild animal management throughout New Zealand. The final report is due to be released before the end of March 2024.

July 2023 update

Review process and key outcomes

New national WARO land schedule approved

DOC received feedback on changes to the national WARO land schedule during three rounds of stakeholder consultation. The feedback has been considered against DOC’s obligations under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 and its statutory planning policies.

Land schedule review report

A report with final recommendations has now been considered and decisions made.

Supporting information listed at the end of the report:

Note: Zoom in to view text on some documents

Where no specific changes have been made the prior WARO land access status remains. 

2023 WARO land schedule maps

The new land schedule maps are available below but cannot be used by operators until accepted as part of a new permit and conditions offer.

Index map (PDF, 2263K)

Review process and key outcomes

Review of WARO land schedules

  • The terms of the national WARO concessions are periodically reviewed. As part of this process, DOC considers and updates which areas of public conservation land are suitable for WARO - known as a WARO land schedule review.
  • Decisions on WARO land access is based on number of factors including, legal and policy requirements, effects on other users, and the need to manage deer numbers to protect native ecosystems.
  • The latest land schedule review has recently been completed, with maps and information about the changes uploaded to the DOC website.
  • Determining the new North and South Island permit conditions and the applications for WARO concessions is the next step in the process. This is well advanced and a decision is expected by spring 2023.
  • The ‘interim’ national WARO concessions, issued to eligible operators after the expiry of the 2015-2018 concession, remain active until the new concession is offered.

Key outcomes of the WARO land schedule review

There are 8.7 million hectares of public conservation land. 8.4 million hectares (96.6%) of this is included in the new schedule but not all was under review. Of this, 6.4 million hectares is accessible to WARO at some time annually (76.2%). This is 0.1% higher than the total accessible to WARO since the last change in 2015.

The conservation land within the schedule is designated either:

  • Permitted (accessible to WARO all year except for Christmas and the roar exclusion periods, or
  • Restricted (accessible to WARO only during certain seasons or periods), or
  • Not Permitted (national WARO isn’t allowed at any time during the year).

Within the 6.4 million hectares accessible to WARO, just over 4 million hectares is Permitted all year (but for Christmas and the roar). This is a 2.3% reduction since 2015. 2.4 million hectares is Restricted to part of a year (a 4.2% increase). This reflects our desire to facilitate appropriate WARO access whilst considering the role of recreational hunters.

Decisions on other specific public conservation land can be viewed in the table on the Department’s website. Where there is no specified decision, the existing status remains.

Why do you need WARO?

Deer in New Zealand have no natural predators and can compromise the resilience, structure and diversity of forests, shrublands and native grasslands. Their browsing pressure needs to be reduced to enhance biodiversity and support ecosystem resilience to the impacts of climate change. WARO, makes a useful contribution to reducing deer numbers in some locations. 

How did DOC consider feedback from stakeholders?

Initially districts and regions considered location-specific feedback and provided comments on these to a national panel. The panel, made up of DOC staff from Legal, Technical-Threats and Permissions, also considered general and location-specific feedback and the regional comments through subsequent consultation rounds. Feedback was assessed against the proposed changes, the requirements of the Wild Animal Control Act 1977, statutory planning and deer control policies, the effects on other users, the role of persons engaged in recreational hunting and the purpose of the land.

The national panel then made recommendations based on this information.  Where feedback received wasn’t consistent with the legislation, deer control policy or scope of consultation, it couldn’t be accepted.

How can you say the recommendations allow for recreational hunter effort, when we have told you WARO disincentivises recreational hunting?

DOC needs both recreational hunters and WARO to contribute to controlling wild animals. In general terms, both are also required by legislation (depending on the land classification and effects) and the Deer Control Policy.    Recreational hunter effort, and effects on other users, is considered by having (as a minimum) WARO exclusion periods during Christmas, the Roar, Easter, certain seasons in Restricted areas and by having WARO prohibited year-round in some other locations.

Why hasn’t a wider review of the WARO management ‘system’ been undertaken?

The Department’s former DDG Operations wrote to WARO stakeholders, on 22 February 2018, advising that there was not sufficient justification, at that time, for the Department to undertake a review of the WARO management ‘system’. The processing of concession applications is also not the right arena in which to be undertaking a ‘system’ review.

Instead, DOC has commissioned a systems analysis of Wild Animal Recovery Operations (WARO) to define problems that might merit work on improvements. The WARO analysis project is not a review of WARO, its purpose is to provide an up-to-date analysis of views and data around WARO aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of issues and identifying opportunities to build its contribution to wild animal management throughout New Zealand.

The findings would be considered as part of the proposed new permit conditions and term. 

How does this process relate to the tahr control operation?

Tahr are not included in the national WARO concession. They are managed under the Himalayan Thar Control Plan 1993 (HTCP) and separate authorisations. Any aerial shooting of tahr must still be consistent with the Wild Animal Control Act and the HTCP.

Why has the land schedule review, and permit updates, taken so long?

We acknowledge it has taken longer than we hoped. To ensure a thorough and robust process was carried out, it took time to gather the necessary information, to undertake three rounds of stakeholder consultation and to consider the significant number of responses. It has also been delayed by a lack of capacity at DOC and changes to key staff during the process. 

How many WARO operators with concessions are there and how many have applied for new concessions?

There are currently 34 WARO operators with active concessions. There are 39 applications for new concessions of which 32 have been waiting since 2018.

The final consultation on the national WARO land schedule review closed on 11 May 2022. 122 submissions were received. These have been recorded and issues identified. All have been considered by the review panel against the Wild Animal Control Act, Deer Control Policy, statutory plans, and other relevant guidance.

A report summarising the review process, submissions received, types of issues raised, and the responses of the review panel along with a final list of recommended changes to the schedule, has been produced.

The report was due to be considered by the decision-maker at the end of July 2022. Due to internal staff changes, a new decision maker has been recently appointed. This has delayed the expected timeframe for a decision.

The report is now before the new Director of Regulatory Services and a decision on the land schedule changes is pending. When a decision is made submitters and stakeholders will be notified.

A second drafted report on the consideration of applications for new national WARO permits will then be finalised and considered by the Director. Successful applicants will then be issued with new permits as soon as possible after that.

The reason for the third and final round of consultation was to seek additional feedback:

  • on draft recommendations made available between December 2018 and February 2019, particularly from those who were unable to do so previously, and
  • some recent amendments to those recommendations.

People who have previously sent feedback were welcome to do so again.

Summary of submissions

Summary of submission comments received during the June/July 2018 and December/February 2019 stakeholder consultations.

Summary of submissions 2018-19 (PDF, 329K)

What's being changed

This document details the recommended access changes for WARO.

Consultation process

Feedback is limited to only places that have changed

The purpose of consultation is to ensure we have feedback on the land recommendations to better inform the decision. Where recommendations have not changed, we do not need additional feedback. That said, we also need more feedback from stakeholders that were unable to make submissions during the December 2018/February 2019 consultation period.

Recommendations allow for recreational hunter effort

DOC needs both recreational hunters and WARO to control wild animals. In general terms, both are also required by legislation (but depending on the land classification) and Deer Control Policy. History has shown if WARO is completely excluded, deer numbers generally increase.

Recreational hunter effort is taken into account by having, as a minimum, WARO exclusion periods during Christmas, the Roar, and Easter, and by having some areas where WARO is excluded year-round.

How this process relates to the tahr control operation

Tahr are not included in the national WARO concession. They are managed under the Himalayan Thar Control Plan 1993 (HTCP). Any aerial shooting of tahr must be consistent with the Wild Animal Control Act and the HTCP. Separate authorisations are required for commercial aerial control of tahr.

Give feedback

People who have sent feedback are welcome to do so again by email waro@doc.govt.nz. Feedback closed 5 pm Wednesday 11 May 2022.

What we'll do next

Further feedback will be considered and assessed against the Wild Animal Control Act, Deer Control Policy, other relevant legislation and statutory plans. Recommendations will then be finalised before going to the decision-maker – the Director Planning, Permissions & Land.

Information sheet on further consultation (PDF, 589K)

Overview and analysis of general submission comments received during the June/July 2018 WARO stakeholder consultation: Summary of submissions 2018 (PDF, 224K)

View WARO submissions received, round two, February 2019

FTP Cerberus

November 2018 maps showing draft recommended WARO access:

WARO 2018 map overview (PDF, 1,130K)

WARO land assessment process

The focus of the land assessment for the 2018 national WARO concession is on:

  • new areas of public conservation land that have not previously been assessed for WARO access
  • land that has had a change in land status or is covered by new or revised management planning documents
  • land previously assessed for the 2015 WARO concession where issues have come up that may mean a change in WARO access is needed for the 2018 concession.

June/July 2018 consultation

The focus of the June external stakeholder consultation is on:

  • the draft recommendations on WARO land access, including recommended access dates (timings). For the current current North Island (PDF, 1,015K) and South Island (PDF, 846K)  concessions, access dates can be found in Schedules 4 and 5 of the permits. These dates are open for comment. Written comment needs to be with the department by 5 pm 16 July 2018 (extended from 30 June 2018). People who have sent in submissions previously are welcome to resubmit.

External feedback received on other aspects of the WARO concession, apart from the land and access dates, will be noted but are not the focus of this engagement as they are more a matter for DOC and WARO concessionaires.

View WARO submissions received, round one, July 2018

FTP Cerberus

June/July draft WARO land access recommendations

North Island
South Island

WARO maps

Index map WARO (PDF, 997K)