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Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today officially opened the new Anchorage Hut in the Abel Tasman National Park.

“The Abel Tasman, with its golden beaches and lush bush, is one of the country’s busiest Great Walks. This new 34-bunk hut will better cater for demand at the favoured stopover site of Anchorage,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith is calling on Aucklanders to keep an eye out for one of the most invasive bird species in the world to help eradicate the pests.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith is welcoming today’s conviction of a Blenheim man over the killing of 23 New Zealand fur seals on the Kaikoura coast in late 2010.

“This was an obscene crime that would offend all New Zealanders who care for our native wildlife. This callous attack needed to be prosecuted to send a clear message that senseless and deliberate violence against animals will not be tolerated,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced a $4.5 million extension to the Department of Conservation partnership with Air New Zealand with a new focus on marine protection.

"Air New Zealand's commitment to support DOC with an additional $4.5 million is a huge boost and comes on top of the $2.9 million committed in 2012. In total, Air New Zealand will be committing $7.4 million to conservation, $5.4 million on terrestrial and $2 million on marine as part of its partnership with DOC," Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith stands by his role in decisions made by the Department of Conservation over its submission to the Board of Inquiry on the Tukituki Catchment proposal.

“A draft 34 page submission was prepared by DOC staff in early July raising questions about the nutrient modelling of the proposal. I have consistently said I never saw this draft until Tuesday of this week and I stand by that,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced one new appointment and three re-appointments to the Guardians of the Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau.

“The Guardians were established under the Conservation Act as a result of the Save Manapouri Campaign and have a prominent place in the history of conservation in New Zealand. They report annually to the Government on matters arising from the environmental, ecological and social impacts of the power schemes on lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau,” Dr Smith says.

A dead dolphin, likely to be a critically endangered Maui’s was found yesterday by a recreational fisher at Glinks Gully, 15 kilometres south of Dargaville, within the North Island West Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary.

“I am saddened by this reported Maui’s dolphin death because with an estimated population of just 55 adults, the loss of even one of these mammals puts at further risk the survival of their species,” Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today presented the country’s most prestigious conservation award, the Loder Cup, to Christchurch botanist Nicholas Head.

“Nick Head is a very deserving winner of the country’s oldest conservation award. He has been a tireless advocate for Canterbury’s unique plant life, both through his professional work with the Department of Conservation and as a volunteer and advocate for numerous trusts and organisations,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith tonight officially launched the Hauraki Gulf Marine Spatial Planning process to help shape the gulf over the next 30 years.

A new Conservation Park on Great Barrier Island and a pest eradication programme on Rakitu Island in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park were today proposed by Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, to mark the beginning of Conservation Week.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith is proposing a 350 square kilometre extension to the set net fishing ban off the coast of Taranaki to protect Maui’s dolphin.

“Maui’s are the world’s smallest and rarest dolphin. They are critically endangered with their numbers down to just 55 adults. New Zealand needs to do everything practically possible to ensure their survival,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy are requiring that all fishing vessels in the Southern Blue Whiting fishery around the Campbell Islands use Sea Lion Exclusion Devices after 16 New Zealand Sea Lion fatalities in the past three weeks.

Tonight’s launch of a primetime TV series that showcases the most spectacular parts of New Zealand’s conservation estate will inspire people to get out and explore our own backyard, Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“The ‘Wild About New Zealand’ series, produced by NHNZ (formerly known as Natural History New Zealand), profiles some of our country’s most pristine National Parks and destinations from the mountains of the Southern Alps to the seas of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith was up at the crack of dawn this morning to join in the opening of the 2013 whitebaiting season at Waimea Inlet near Nelson and to encourage compliance with the whitebait regulations.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have welcomed the High Court’s decision to dismiss two appeals on the Board of Inquiry’s approval for New Zealand King Salmon to develop new marine farms in the Marlborough Sounds.

The decision of the Board of Inquiry, reached in February 2011, to approve four new salmon farming sites in the Marlborough Sounds was appealed by two parties and that appeal was heard at the High Court in Blenheim in May.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today welcomed the State Services Commission’s announcement of Lou Sanson as the new Director-General of the Department of Conservation.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today launched a new online mountain weather forecast service that will improve the enjoyment and safety of trampers, hunters, mountain bikers, skiers and fishers using New Zealand’s National and Forest Parks.

“New Zealand’s mountain environment can quickly turn from warm and calm to treacherous. We can improve the safety and enjoyment of users by providing more frequent and detailed weather forecasts on the internet,” Dr Smith says.

A report which identifies a number of significant opportunities to grow the Taupo Sports Fishery has been released today by Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Tūwharetoa Maori Trust Board chief executive Tamarapa Lloyd.

“The Department of Conservation commissioned an independent review of the sports fishery after public concerns were raised about the health of the trout fishery and a 20 per cent drop in licence sales over the past five years,” Dr Nick Smith says.

The tunnel project proposed by Milford Dart Limited, through the Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks, has been declined, Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

“I am declining this tunnel proposal because the environmental impacts are significant and beyond what is appropriate in two of New Zealand’s most spectacular National Parks and a World Heritage Area,” Dr Smith says.

The number of people doing New Zealand’s nine Great Walks has increased by a record 7500 in the past year, Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

Riparian plantings by farmers will now be able to be deducted as an operational expense rather than being classified as capital expenditure after the passage through Parliament today of amendments to the Income Tax Act 2007.

“This tax change is important for conservation and water quality. It will encourage farmers to plant trees and shrubs in riparian strips along creeks and rivers. This will increase habitat and reduce sediment and nutrients from entering into our natural waterways,” Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith have today announced the members of an independent Board of Inquiry to consider the Tukituki Catchment Proposal.

Environment Minister Amy Adams and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today confirmed the Government’s commitment to clean-up an old gold mining site polluted with arsenic at Waiuta on the West Coast.

“Testing at this old mine site in the Victoria Forest Park has identified very high levels of arsenic in the soil and water that poses a risk to people and the environment. The site has been fully fenced but we need to get on and clean-up the contamination to protect the wider environment,” Dr Smith says.

Good morning.

Pulling together good economic and environmental policy has been my passion of 25 years in politics and so I am delighted to be formally opening this Valuing Nature Conference.

I want to start by acknowledging our distinguished international guests.

Former chair of the IPCC on Climate Change and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Professor Sir Robert Watson.

Ambassador for the UN Environment Programme and author of “Towards a Green Economy”, Pavan Sukhdev.