Birch Island's rich native vegetation finally given conservation protection

The Minister of Conservation, Hon Sandra Lee, has brought a 15-year long community campaign to an end by designating Birch Island in the lower Clutha River as a protected area under the Conservation Act.

Ms Lee said the island's six hectares of rich native vegetation was of significant conservation value, and remained intact as a consequence of the island being largely free of deer and rodents.

"This ecological gem has lacked conservation protection until this year, " Ms Lee said. "It would have been flooded in the wake of the giant hydro-electricity development proposed for the lower Clutha if that had not been shelved," she said.

Ms Lee was aware that in 1994, the Otago Conservation Board unanimously called for Birch Island to be given reserve status. She said the Department of Conservation began a long and complex process of securing protection after Contact Energy announced in 1996 that it had deferred development plans indefinitely. But the land still remained without protection when the National Party lost power in the 1999 election.

Ms Lee said her formal decision this year to change the land's status was timely, as it was clearly unreasonable to put off gazetting land for conservation purposes where development plans had been put on hold indefinitely.

She said the Otago Conservation Board strongly supported Birch Island being brought under the Conservation Act, and Land Information New Zealand also supported the change.

"The Department of Conservation has told me it plans to propose that the status of Birch Island be upgraded ultimately to an ecological area," Ms Lee said. "Public submissions will be sought once DOC formalises a proposal."