A new report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says one third of Department of Conservation land is poorly administered.
It says land known as stewardship land is governed by laws that are confused and contradictory. The report says a third of DoC land and one tenth of all New Zealand is poorly administered.
The report says this land has been in legal limbo for 25 years, is exposed to commercial exploitation and is sometimes tied in with conservation projects with little environmental gain.
Most of Great Barrier Island is stewardship land, as are parts of inland Marlborough, the Southern Alps and southern Westland.
Commissioner Jan Wright told Nine to Noon the law needs to be clarified and stewardship land graded into high or low conservation areas.
