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The South Island high country holds exceptional value to New Zealanders for its beautiful landscape, cultural importance, history, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities (Department of Conservation, 2009a; Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2009). Ngāi Tahu (Māori of the South Island) have spiritual and cultural connections with the land. High country farmers have been the focus of the ‗Southern Man‘ icon, a tough and independent pastoral dweller, often depicted in New Zealand commercials. Artists, writers, outdoor enthusiasts, and tourists also value this landscape. Unfortunately, high country farming is currently facing an economic downturn. This is one of the many and varied motivations for entering into land tenure review.

There is a mixture of land tenures throughout the South Island high country, which includes pastoral leases. The tenure of a pastoral lease can be reviewed under a process called tenure review, which is carried out under the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 (CPLA). Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) administers the process. The decision to enter tenure review is voluntary, and the process was initiated in 1990. When the process is complete, more productive land is returned to the lessee under freehold status, and land with significant inherent values (SIVs) is returned to the Crown to be managed by DOC (Land Information New Zealand, 2004; Armstrong et al., 2007; Parliamentary Commissioner for the

Environment, 2009; Wilkins, personal communication, August 26, 2009). One objective of the CPLA is to protect SIVs. SIVs include land that has historic or cultural significance, unique ecological, recreational or scientific attributes, indigenous species, and/or considerable biodiversity (Department of Conservation, 2009a). Land is also considered to have SIVs if it contributes to ecosystem services. These services include environmental goods that are created by interactions between living things, such as air, water and soil that benefit humans.

The tenure review process involves the pastoral leaseholder, DOC, Fish and Game, iwi, and the public. DOC is LINZ‘s main advisor for the tenure review process.

Pastoral leases give the leaseholder rights to graze the land; however, high country land contains sensitive ecosystems, so farmers are required to practise due diligence on the land, and LINZ reserves the right to control stock numbers. Farmer responsibilities include

minimising waste, controlling plant and animal pests, and gaining consent for any activity that disturbs the soil, including fire-use. Throughout the 20th century, the legislation of pastoral land-use evolved to its current state (Table 1.7). Since 1990, tenure review has caused pastoral lease numbers in the South Island high country to drop from 304 to 107 (Table 1.8).

This has caused a sevenfold decrease in pastoral lease area, from 2.16 million ha to less than 0.86 million ha.

Table 1.7 History of the administration of pastoral land-use (adopted from Armstrong et al., 2007).

present Pastoral Lease Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998

Annual rent is charged at 2.25 % of the land value (exclusive of land improvements) and is reassessed every 11 years. Perpetual renewal under a 33 year term.

1948-1998 Pastoral Lease Land Act 1948

Rent was not a fixed rate, but the Land Settlement Board was required to fix a fair annual rent. Perpetual renewal under a 33 year term.

License given under grant scheme. Fixed term for 21 years.

Table 1.8 Pastoral lease information before tenure review and its current status (adopted from Armstrong et al., 2007; Urlich, 2009).

Pastoral

Canterbury 112 868,559 37 340,969 131,561 79,827 54

Westland 2 2,590 1 1,214 ~ ~ 1

Nelson/

Marlborough 15 110,853 6 35,817 66,727 26,022 5

Otago 155 948,497 51 341,211 109,094 86,201 63

Southland 20 228,193 12 138,894 ~ ~ 6

Total 304 2,158,692 107 858,105 307,382 192,050 122

Status as of November 2009

As stated in the CPLA, the main objectives of tenure review are

(a) To —

(i) Promote the management of reviewable land in a way that is ecologically sustainable:

(ii) Subject to subparagraph (i), enable reviewable land capable of economic use to be freed from the management constraints (direct and indirect) resulting from its tenure under reviewable instrument; and

(b) To enable the protection of the significant inherent values of reviewable land —

(i) By the creation of protective mechanisms; or (preferably)

(ii) By the restoration of the land concerned to full Crown ownership and control; and

(c) Subject to paragraphs (a) and (b), to make easier — (i) The securing of public access to and enjoyment of reviewable land; and

(ii) The freehold disposal of reviewable land (Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998, 2008).

There are four main stages of tenure review (Land Information New Zealand, 2004). First,

‗information gathering‘ is initiated after LINZ accepts the lessee‘s invitation into tenure review. Consultation with different groups begins. Second, ‗preliminary proposal‘ occurs when the first cut is drafted, which shows where the land will be divided into conservation and freehold sections; and, the lessee agrees to advertise the proposal for public submissions.

Third, ‗substantive proposal‘ occurs when the second cut is drafted, including any input from public or iwi, and the lessee decides whether to accept the final proposal or not. Fourth,

‗implementation of substantive proposal‘ is when the lessee gains freehold title to a portion of the land, and the rest is returned to the Crown. It can take up to four years for tenure review to be completed. Table 1.9 presents a summary of land activities that are permitted once tenure review is complete.

Tenure review is slowly creating a mosaic of land tenures throughout the high country. As of November 2009, about 192,050 ha of land had been transferred back to the Crown as a result of tenure review (Urlich, 2009). About 307,382 ha had been transferred to freehold title (Table 1.8). Other increases to Crown land include whole property purchases, surrendered pastoral occupational licences, land improvement agreements, and reclassified land. Overall, approximately 430,000 ha have been added to South Island public conservation land over the last 19 years. An updated figure for Canterbury/Marlborough indicates that as of August 2009, 270,270 ha of pastoral land had become public conservation land and is now

administered by DOC (Wilkins, personal communication, August 26, 2009). This figure also includes whole property purchases by the Nature Heritage Fund or the Crown.

Table 1.9 Possible land activities on South Island high country depending on land title (adopted from Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2009).

Pastoral Leasehold Freehold Increasing cattle, deer, or even alpaca

numbers



Crown Land (CCL)



Land improvement by clearance, drainage, irrigation, or topdressing



the CCL



Increased tourism, i.e. Farmstays, horse riding, 4WD tours, hunting, or fishing



the CCL



Dairy farming

 

Carbon sequestration and agro-forestry

 

Cropping or viticulture

 

 

Private conservancy

 

Reducing the land to woody weeds,

Hieracium, or desert

 

Land Title (Indication of Allowable Land Activities  = yes,  = no) Possible Land Activities

Ewans (2004) reviewed recent publications on the ―effects of grazing cessation on the indigenous grasslands of the eastern South Island of New Zealand‖ (p. 8). This is important due to changing management practices in the high country as a result of tenure review. One trend indicated a beneficial result: there is an increased number of indigenous species on land that is no longer grazed, compared with land that is still grazed. Native vegetation recovery is slow in these areas, and depends on a number of variables; therefore, this trend is not always observed. Research tends to signify that if stock grazing and rabbits are removed, native vegetation is likely to recover in places where good seed sources are available (Ewans, 2004).

Other trends suggest that fuel continuity is reverting from patchy to continuous, and that fuel loading is transforming from low to high (Ewans, 2004). These trends indicate that if a fire were to occur in these areas, it would be larger and require more resources to control.

Regardless of management issues that arise from tenure review, the process results in several positive outcomes. It provides farmers with new options for their marginally economic leasehold land, it increases tussock grassland protection, and it allows the public to enjoy more recreational activities in the picturesque high country.