PARTNERING TO PROTECT LAND

Our annual operating budget is approximately $7.5 million, of which approximately 60% is government-funded through Vote Conservation and administered through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Minister of Conservation. The remainder of our funding comes from Jobs for Nature projects, our investments, memberships, contestable funding, other grants and through the generosity of our members and other passionate private land conservationists.

We partner with landowners to protect a range of ecosystems and other unique features found on privately owned land. We prioritise protection of wetlands, sand dune systems and indigenous lowland ecosystems, as these have suffered the biggest loss. Protecting these ecosystems on private land is vitally important for the future biodiversity of New Zealand.

With 70% of land in New Zealand under private ownership, protecting biodiversity on privately owned land is critical to reversing the decline of indigenous biodiversity. Much of this is in lowland areas where the biodiversity losses have been immense.

Over 4,000 indigenous species in New Zealand are threatened with, or at risk of extinction. Some of our most threatened animal and plant species depend on privately owned land for survival. QEII covenants protect habitat of critically or nationally endangered species including short jawed kōkopu (Galaxias postvectis), short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata), dwarf mistletoe (Korthalsella salicornioides), mingimingi (Muehlenbeckia astonii), and Lyttleton forget-me-not (Myosotis lytteltonensis). Our partnerships with private landowners protect these precious taonga.

Protecting private land with a QEII National Trust covenant is an efficient and effective way to help protect the habitat of threatened animal and plant species.

This year we registered 104 new covenants, protecting 2,264 hectares. We have also approved a further 170 covenants that will protect 3,872 hectares once registered.