DOC's Budget 2018 explained: Issues 2018

Backing nature: See how the increase in funding for conservation in Budget 2018 impacts on DOC's overall budget.

Budget 2018 funding increase

Budget 2018 provides a $181.62 million funding increase over the next four years made up of the following:

$81.28 million to help our unique wildlife thrive by controlling and eradicating predators
$16.24 million for strengthening DOC's organisational capacity and capability (policy,
asset management, core organisational capability)
$5.5 million for managing the impacts of more visitors to public conservation land
$2.6 million for protecting plants, wildlife and landscapes in the Mackenzie Basin
$76 million as a contingency to fund biodiversity initiatives across land, freshwater and
marine ecosystems, once more detailed planning is completed.

The additional funding from this budget ramps up over the next four years and will reach $60 million annually from 2021/22. This means DOC's total departmental budget is expected to increase by 16% by 2021/22. Vote Conservation also increases by 13% by 2021/22.

Breakdown of new funding in Budget 2018

Initiative	2018/19 ($m)	2019/20 ($m)	2020/21 ($m)	2021/22 ongoing ($m)	4-yr total ($m)
Enhancing biodiversity by controlling and eradicating predators	4.40	30.40	23.40	23.08	81.28
Managing the impacts of increasing numbers of visitors to public conservation land	1.00	1.50	1.50	1.50	5.50
Enhancing biodiversity protection in the Mackenzie Basin	0.80	0.82	0.82	0.16	2.60
Strengthening DOC's organisational capacity and capability (policy, asset management, core organisational capability)	3.28	4.32	4.32	4.32	16.24
Contingency for biodiversity initiatives (freshwater, marine, terrestrial)	7.60	15.20	22.04	31.16	76.00
Total	17.08	52.24	52.08	60.22	181.62

Increases to DOC's departmental budget

The graph below shows how the departmental budget that includes the new funding from 2018/19 (solid green line) compares with the pre-existing departmental budget (dotted green line).

DOC's departmental budget from 2013/14 to 2021/22

DOC's departmental budget from 2013/14 to 2021/22.

Budget 2018 includes contingency funding which is assumed to be in departmental operating budgets.

Budgets for the years 2013/14 to 2017/18 are from the Budget Estimates of Appropriations as tabled in Parliament for those years.

DOC's budget is complex. There can be fluctuations as a result of government policy initiatives approved in the annual Budget round (eg Budget 2018), as well as external revenue increases (eg hut and camping charges, concessions fees and partnerships revenue). There are also many technical adjustments to budgets such as transferring budgets between years.

Budget 2018 funding compared to prior Budgets

The following chart overlays new funding in Budget 2018 with funding received in previous Budgets.

Overview of new departmental operating funding

Overview of new departmental operating funding.

Budget 2018 initiatives comprise biodiversity contingency, Mackenzie Basin, organisational capability, visitor management, and predator control.

$m totals in legend are over 4 years.

Trend in Vote Conservation and DOC's departmental budget

Vote Conservation has two main components:

departmental spending, which is DOC's total operational budget
non-departmental spending, which DOC spends on behalf of the Crown, eg community conservation funds and protection of biodiversity on private and Māori land.

The graph shows the growth of Vote Conservation and DOC's departmental budget from the new funding in Budget 2018.

Vote Conservation compared to DOC's departmental budget from 2013/14 to 2021/22

Vote Conservation compared to DOC's departmental budget from 2013/14 to 2021/22.