By Corina Jordan, Chief Executive, New Zealand Game Animal Council
We have recently updated the Game Animal Council’s organisational strategy, setting out where we are heading over the next few years and the role we need to play as the independent statutory voice for hunters.
At the heart of that strategy is a clear vision – for game animals to be recognised as valued introduced species and sustainably managed for future generations, for hunting to be valued as part of New Zealand’s national heritage and identity, and for the Game Animal Council to have a statutory game animal management role, working alongside hunters.
The Minister for Hunting and Fishing’s designation of New Zealand’s first two herds of special interest (HOSI) – wapiti in Fiordland and sika in the central North Island – is exactly the kind of practical progress that vision is about.
HOSI is a legal instrument under the Game Animal Council Act 2013 that enables the management of game animals for hunting, while ensuring conservation values are protected. It shifts the management of these animals from wild animals to be controlled or eradicated under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977, to valued introduced species that are to be sustainably managed for hunting under the Game Animal Council Act 2013. In practical terms, that means these herds will now be managed through a more hunter led, collaborative and adaptive approach that recognises the value of these animals to New Zealanders. This is a material shift and has been over 13 years in the making since the Game Animal Council Act was established in 2013.
For the Wapiti HOSI, the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation will continue its excellent management, building on nearly three decades of this work in Fiordland National Park. The Fiordland Wapiti Foundation has shown what can be achieved when hunters, local communities and agencies work together to support a world-class recreational hunting resource while looking after a unique and remote environment.
The Minister has retained management responsibilities for the Wapiti HOSI and as such the Department of Conservation will administer these functions under the Game Animal Council Act 2013. This continues the Department’s and Fiordland Wapiti Foundation’s working relationship with the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation implementing the Wapiti HOSI herd management plan.
The Sika Foundation has put in a huge amount of work over recent years to better understand the Central North Island sika herd and implement practical management. This work has showed that hunters are willing to step up where herd health is impacted and where animal numbers are having an impact on the environment. The Sika HOSI ensures that this work can continue, recognising the herd as a highly valued game animal that is to be sustainably managed for its hunting values while delivering improved conservation outcomes across the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Forests.
The Sika Foundation will continue to be empowered to work with the community, hunters, and mana whenua to ensure the herd provides outstanding hunting opportunities, high-quality protein resource for communities and families, accessibility, along with improved conservation outcomes.
In relation to the Sika HOSI another exciting outcome has been achieved with the Minister delegating HOSI management functions to the Game Animal Council. This moves the Council into a statutory management role. What this means in practice is that the HOSI will be delivered through a hunter led statutory body, that supports the Sika Foundation in delivering the Sika HOSI herd management plan. The Department of Conservation retains lead responsibility for ecological monitoring.
None of this has happened by accident. I want to acknowledge and thank hunters, the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, the Sika Foundation, NZDA and its branches, DOC staff, local iwi and communities, and all those who have kept pushing the HOSI concept forward over many years.
HOSI has always relied on the idea that hunters are not just users of a resource, or a tool to be deployed to control deer numbers, but rather that hunting is valued by New Zealand in its own right, and hunters are active contributors to sustainable game animal management and conservation. These designations give us further opportunities to prove the value of this recognition.
Those opportunities also come with significant responsibilities. Successful HOSI management will depend on good information, monitoring and reporting, and strong hunter support and engagement. We need to know that hunting values are being met, what is happening to herd numbers, animal quality, habitat condition and wider conservation values. We then need to be able to adapt management and resource it appropriately as conditions change.
In some places, the right outcome may mean reducing animal pressure to improve environmental and animal quality outcomes. In others, it may mean maintaining numbers while ensuring the herd remains healthy and well managed. Either way, decisions need to be based on good monitoring, forward planning and proactive and consistent management.
One thing I do want to reiterate is that HOSI are not about locking up herds, creating exclusive hunting areas, reducing recreational hunter access, or consistently reducing animal numbers to the point that they fall below huntable levels. Fundamentally, HOSI is about providing incredible hunting opportunities by making sure these herds, their habitats and the wider hunting experience are recognised, valued, and actively managed for the future.
These first two HOSI are just the beginning. Their success will be judged by what happens on the ground. If, as a community, hunters get this right, we can show that hunter-led management has an important place in the future of conservation and game animal management in New Zealand and build the case for more HOSI.
As your statutory organisation, the GAC has important responsibilities to hunters, government and the wider public. Our job is to meet those responsibilities, think ahead, and help secure sustainable game animal management and enduring access to hunting for future generations.
Learn more about HOSI at www.nzgac.org.nz/hosi
All the best,
Corina
