MORE MONEY TO IMPROVE SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT

Sustainable land management in the South Island High Country will be improved through more money for the Land Tenure Review Programme, Minister of Lands John Luxton said today.

"It is intended to freehold more land capable of economic use while protecting land with conservation, historic, landscape, cultural and recreational values." The land tenure reform programme is implemented through the tenure review of individual pastoral leases, which are carried out at the request of the individual lessee.

The tenure review process follows the principle that the lessee will purchase the Crown's interest in land capable of economic use and the Crown will purchase the lessee's interest in land with significant conservation or recreational values.

"The land tenure reform of Crown Pastoral Leases in the South Island High Country aims to improve sustainable land management by the separation of differing interests in the land. "Land with significant conservation or recreational values will be protected by transferring it into Crown ownership (Department of Conservation) and/or through the use of covenants, easements or other appropriate mechanisms.

Public access will be preserved to such land," Mr Luxton said. The Coalition Government has announced a 20% increase in the Land Tenure Reform Programme of South Island High Country Pastoral Leases for the 1998/99 financial year.

The budget for this programme for 1998/99 is now $2.4m.