Those of you who attended the 2016 Outdoors Forum will recall that a session on Recrational Access co-hotsed with the Walking Access Commisssion identified access to the South Island High Country as a key cause for concern. Subsequently, Recreation Aotearoa lobbied various Conservation Boards, Government Department CEOs and MPs, expressing our view that many Tenure Review outcomes resulted in reduced recreational access to Public Conservation Land.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the Crown's management of pastoral land in the South Island high country (Tenure Review). The recently published assessment of the Crown Pastoral Land Regulatory System identified the need for changes at a legislative level to improve the environmental and economic outcomes for pastoral land in the high country.

The view of most NGO's is that Tenure Review was a sound concept, but poorly executed. Now that the process has been suspended, the question is what happens in its absence. Recreation Aotearoa will be submitting to the formal consultation, before it closes on April 12th.