Under the Southland conservation management strategy, cycling is a permissible activity only in specific conservation land areas. Te Anau Cycling Inc announced its plans last year, and a section around Henry Creek was not covered in the management strategy, published in 2016. However, a Department of Conservation proposal to complete a national partial review of all conservation management strategies might make the process easier. DOC planning permissions and land director Natasha Hayward said the review would enable the consideration of building new cycle trails and allowing cycling on public conservation land but not everywhere. It would not address cycling in national parks, which requires a different approach under National Park General Policy 2005, she said.
Roy Sloan/Supplied
A new smartphone app will mean hunters will be able to help record deer and bird numbers in remote Fiordland.
The Fiordland Wapiti Foundation is developing an app to help hunters keep track of deer and bird numbers in remote back country. During a Southland Conservation Board meeting on Thursday, Fiordland Wapiti Foundation president Roy Sloan said it invested a lot of money into launching an application that would help hunters keep track of deer numbers along with helping with survey kea populations. The app will launch with the 2021 March ballot, and will work offline so hunters can log whatever they see, wapiti, native birds and rubbish with GPS points which will go straight onto a map.