Greenstone and Caples under threat if monorail approved
One monorail in Fiordland could easily lead to two or three, according to campaigners who have noticed a clause allowing similar developments to be built. Save Fiordland and Otago Conservation Board has discovered that Ngai Tahu would have a legal right to build a monorail or gondola in the Greenstone and Caples valleys if the Snowdon Forest monorail gets the go ahead. The clause is written in the Ngai Tahu Deed of Covenant, attached to the Deed of Settlement, which says the Minister for Conservation couldn’t withhold consent to a similar scheme on Ngai Tahu land if the monorail was approved. Ngai Tahu own land in the Greenstone and Caples valleys. This deeply worries Daphne Taylor, of Save Fiordland: “It may be that Ngai Tahu would never put a proposal in, but it’s important to make people aware that it is feasible. Allowing the monorail could open up a can of worms. “Snowdon Forest has World Heritage status which means it’s not appropriate for any such development. It’s devastating that it’s even being considered.” Bill Jarvie, chair of Save Fiordland, said: “The reality is that the clause is there in black and white. The only reason it would have been put into the settlement is because of a request from Ngai Tahu that if it’s good enough for everyone else to build there, they should have a piece of the pie too. “This should have been revealed to the public from the start – the great majority of the public would have had no idea of this consequence.” The monorail proposal is part of the Fiordland Link Experience, which intends to provide a scenic trip from Queenstown to Te Anau Downs via a combination of catamaran, bus and monorail. The monorail wouldn’t travel through Fiordland National Park, but would cut through part of a World Heritage site.Beyond the Edge
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Hut book wins award
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Foreigners and businesses should help fund DOC, say Wilderness readers
Fees for foreigners, all-park passports and online donations are just some of the many ways you think would help the Department of Conservation raise more pennies. DOC is currently looking for ways to increase its funding at a time when budgets have fallen, so we asked you how it should be done. Hundreds of Wilderness readers answered our survey, and now we’ve collated the results. Most readers (85%) believe private businesses have a role to play, but an even greater number (89%) believe non-business-based funding should also be discussed. As far as business funding is concerned, virtually everyone agreed that sponsorship schemes (91%) and funding from tourism operators (96%) are the ways to go, with funding from mining concessions (13%) and energy development (28%) proving far less popular. Of other methods of filling the piggy bank, creating a park tax for foreign visitors (71%), increasing fines for non-hut payers (51%) and sprinkling donation boxes across parks and in DOC offices (45%), were the most popular. Our readers also thought more money should come from the Ministry of Tourism with 88% agreeing that this department should contribute more to the front country stuff, such as shelters and car parks at the start of Great Walks. As well as answering multiple-choice questions, respondents could add ideas of their own for how DOC should increase its funding. Popular suggestions were tax hikes and extra charges for foreign visitors, perhaps charging them higher hut fees. Other suggestions included:- “An all-park passport at a reasonable rate”
- “Online donations to DOC”
- “Privately funded huts on DOC land”
- “Taxing businesses that use the environment”
- “Paying an annual fee equivalent to the size of land you own”