New Zealand is considering charging visitors to some of the country’s most iconic destinations in an effort to conserve them.
The government is seeking feedback on charging both domestic and foreign visitors to five iconic tourist sites, which collectively receive 2.6 million people a year.
The conservation minister called it the biggest potential change in conservation in over three decades.
“We’re also consulting on a proposal to introduce access charges for some public conservation areas,” Tama Potaka said. “Access fees are widely used internationally to help maintain popular sites sustainably.”
According to two discussion documents released on Friday, the government plans to charge each New Zealander $20 and each foreigner $30 access fee for Cathedral Cove, Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Franz Josef Glacier, Milford Sound, and Aoraki Mount Cook National Park.
The fees are expected to bring in about $71m a year. Charging only international visitors will yield about half that.
“New Zealand’s ecosystems are declining and nearly 4,000 native species are either at risk or threatened with extinction,” one of the documents states.
The Department of Conservation “is only just ‘holding the line’ at present and cannot do this everywhere”, it adds about the access fees.
Many countries such as the US, UK, Japan, and Australia charge access fees to control the number of visitors to tourist sites and raise revenue, the department points out.
The government will also discuss “modernising” the management of conservation land.
The proposal has drawn criticism from Forest and Bird, an independent conservation organisation, which said connecting to nature is part of being a Kiwi.
“Connection to te Taiao is a fundamental part of being a New Zealander. All New Zealanders should be guaranteed the ability to connect with our natural environment regardless of how much money they earn,” it said.
Mr Potaka said he did not hold “a firm view” on whether New Zealanders have an inalienable right to free access to public conservation land.
“I think the average Kiwi, in certain specific places, would be up for that discussion because the average Kiwi recognises that looking after those iconic places does not come cost-free,” he said.
