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Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

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This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

NATURE CONSERVATION

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Modern Methods of Conservation

The Department of Internal Affairs supervises ranging activities for law enforcement, and is responsible for a wide range of wildlife conservation, research, and management work. Activities include undertaking wildlife surveys and ecological research, special attention being given to the numerous offshore islands, the preservation of which in a natural state is an important aspect of fauna conservation. In many of these activities the Department is assisted by a Fauna Protection Advisory Council. Efforts are made to preserve reasonable areas of wetlands for wildlife habitat. Re-establishment of native birds in regions in which they have become extinct is also undertaken as is the raising of rare species in captivity in an endeavour to ensure that the species are maintained.

Developing a public appreciation of native flora and fauna is an important aspect of conservation, and educational work is carried out by Government agencies, museums, and by voluntary bodies such as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, the Ornithological Society, the Royal Society, naturalist clubs, and scenery preservation societies.

Conservation of native flora and fauna has been handicapped by the spread of introduced noxious plants such as broom, brier, and gorse. Introduced animals given legislative protection in earlier years have become pests and have also caused destruction of native and other vegetation. In the interests of conservation, it is Government policy to combat both noxious weeds and noxious animals. Legislation provides for the eradication or control of these weeds and animals including deer, chamois, thar, pigs, goats, opossums, and rabbits. Government action includes subsidies to local and ad hoc authorities to assist in control and eradication measures. Research and the destruction of deer in remote areas is carried out by the Protection Forest Division of the New Zealand Forest Service.

by Percy Hylton Craig Lucas, Administrative Officer, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington.