Significant natural areas of the Waikato District: terrestrial and wetland ecosystems

Report: TR 2017/36

Author: Wiea van der Zwan & Gerry Kessels (Kessels Ecology)

About this report

Waikato Regional Council has a strategic objective to identify and prioritise areas of indigenous flora and fauna habitats within the Waikato region for biodiversity management. Identification of Significant Natural Areas (SNA) is an important step in managing the region’s natural heritage, and meeting the requirements of the Resource Management Act 1991. The objectives of the Waikato district SNA project were to identify and assess the ecological significance of the remaining natural areas within the Waikato District based on RPS, and to provide the council and Waikato District Council with a foundation data set for prioritising biodiversity management needs.

This project was carried out in collaboration with Waikato District Council - an extensive community wide consultation with the landowners, allowed for the further refinement of the data set and ranking of each affected SNA. The public consultation process revealed that the majority of landowners were very motivated to protect and restore SNA found on their land.

The results show that 698 sites, comprising an area of 71,312 ha (16.4 per cent) of the Waikato District, consists of significant natural areas. A total of 107 nationally threatened and at risk species have been recorded as being present within the Waikato District.

The SNA information in this report will assist both councils in their development of policies, incentives and rules in relation to their obligations of the Resource Management Act. In addition, the dataset and management recommendations can provide a guide to stakeholders and developers on strategic opportunities on how to protect and restore these significant natural areas.

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Significant natural areas of the Waikato District: terrestrial and wetland ecosystems [PDF, 6.6 MB]