Hundreds of parcels of land in Otago have outstanding conservation and recreational values but are less protected than reserves and are at risk from increased commercial activities, mining and land swap, conservationists say.
They include some of Otago's most loved places, such as Dunedin's Sandfly Bay and Aramoana Conservation Area, Flat Top Hill, near Alexandra, land next to Te Papanui Conservation Park and Mt Aspiring National Park, land in the Old Man and Woman ranges and Remarkables and Greenstone conservation areas.
Until recently, many thought this land was well protected but the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright's report on stewardship land highlighted it was less protected than reserves and parks, Forest and Bird Otago Southland field officer Sue Maturin says.
In Otago there are more than 500 pieces of the conservation estate, 232,025ha, legally classified as stewardship land, with about 52 of those, 45,332ha, listed as having ''priority ecosystems''.
Nearly all of the high country land obtained through tenure review had already been identified as having high conservation and landscape values, and should be able to be reclassified into more appropriate protective categories without extensive need for on-the-ground surveys, she said.
''The Crown has spent millions of dollars to protect this land, and it should be properly protected.''
Successive conservation ministers under this Government had ''sacrificed'' stewardship land in the interests of mining, as had been seen with the Denniston Plateau and the exclusion of stewardship land with lignite under it from the Oteake Conservation Park, she said.
Emeritus Prof Sir Alan Mark said the whole issue of stewardship land was a ''shambles''.
''The Parliamentary Commissioner was right on the ball highlighting the importance of reclassifying areas with known conservation values. This should have been given priority some time back.''
The land was more threatened than other conservation land and was seen by some as being ''there for the taking''.
''An attitude has developed that if it's stewardship land then it has limited conservation value, which is not true.''
He listed about 27 areas of stewardship land in Otago, some considered priority ecosystems, some not, that were important for biodiversity or recreational reasons.
Federation Mountain Clubs acting president Peter Wilson, who also works for Fish and Game Otago, pointed out many of those areas listed by Prof Mark were popular for outdoor activities such as tramping, skiing, rock climbing, fishing and hunting.
The Hunter River had a high quality backcountry fishery and was considered one of New Zealand's most remote rivers, while the Remarkables Conservation Area was popular for skiing, rock climbing and mountaineering.
The Old Man Range was considered by many as having national park values, with extensive tall tussock cover with water yield value and many important species, he said.
The Rock and Pillars, close to Dunedin, had a recreational history of skiing, historic huts, summer tramping, winter ski-touring, many distinctive animals and plants and landscape values.
In coastal Otago, the Tautuku forest was a relatively intact lowland forest, which was very rare on the East Coast of the South Island, he said.
Otago Conservation Board acting chairman Gordon Bailey said he hoped if people were passionate about these areas they would make submissions to Otago's Conservation Management Plan urging Doc to include as a priority sorting out stewardship areas with high conservation values.
''It needs to be locked into department forward planning. This is a really good opportunity.''
