DoC admits error: no decisions yet on stewardship land

The area round Haast includes stewardship land. (Image: NZME)

Wed, 05 Nov 2025

No decisions have been made about the reclassification of stewardship land despite the Department of Conservation saying it had made announcements in July.The department’s annual report, tabled in Parliament recently, said it had made progress on the much-delayed and controversial subject of reclassifying approximately 2.7 million hectares, or about 9 % of New Zealand’s total land area.The public conservation land is held for conservation purposes but not yet assessed or formally classified. Some want it protected, others opened for...

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