The Department of Conservation (Doc) said this week it was seeking expressions of interest from parties wanting to run Punanga Manu o Te Anau-Te Anau Bird Sanctuary after a review determined the sanctuary was not a high priority in the department’s biodiversity work — and it was in need of significant investment.
Doc Southern South Island director of operations Aaron Fleming confirmed yesterday if an alternative was not found the department would consider its closure.
In recent years Doc had not been in a position to upgrade the facility, he said.
The takahē enclosure alone required an estimated $100,000 and Doc was not in a position to fund the work.
Work on predator-free Fiordland islands — home to critically endangered species "including kākāpō, tīeke and mohua" — was a higher priority.
"The wellbeing of manu [birds] will continue to come first no matter the outcome of the review," he said.
"We will keep the community, sponsors and stakeholders informed as things develop."
Southland regional development agency Great South chief executive Chami Abeysinghe said from an economic and regional tourism development point of view, the importance of the bird sanctuary was well understood.
"But we also do understand what the costs are and there's many businesses that are doing it tough.
"Finding the best solution for everyone, all of the stakeholders involved, is what we are working towards," she said.
Great South regional strategy general manager Bobbi Brown said the regional development agency began working with stakeholders a couple of years ago on whether ensuring the sanctuary’s sustainability could involve new management.
That work would continue, now with more urgency.
"We need to just align our processes and give Doc a hand to evaluate [expressions of interest], because it's the same people we're talking to."
The sanctuary’s future could involve it being run as a commercial venture, or it could be a not-for-profit type "community good" proposal.
Either way, "economic gains" were not the only marker of its value.
"It really is intrinsically linked to the community, and that's why people will act emotively, and I totally understand that," she said.
Tourism operator Martin Sliva, of Te Anau, said over the summer season buses of visitors arrived on a daily basis and its carpark was often filled with private vehicles.
It was an important educational place for those with an interest in New Zealand fauna and flora.
And it was special place considering takahē were rediscovered in the wild in the Murchison Mountains "just behind" Lake Te Anau, on the shores of which the sanctuary sat.
Southland Fish & Game manager Zane Moss said Fish & Game, which owns the site, was happy to let Doc use it to promote conservation values.
"We are working with Great South, iwi and other stakeholders to look at what future opportunities there might be to utilise the site.
"I think we're excited about the opportunities that the site provides."
Southland district councillor Sarah Greaney, of Te Anau, said the sanctuary was "definitely a much-loved facility here in town".
"If we were to lose it, I think it would definitely be a loss to the town and to the community."
However, she said talk of its closure was "very pre-emptive" at this stage.
There was no current provision in the council’s long-term plan or in the community board plan to become either an owner or a stakeholder financially in the sanctuary, Cr Greaney said.
"But we would consider ourselves to be an interested party."
The sanctuary became embroiled in a controversy last year when some vets disputed Doc’s decision to move a 26-year-old South Island kākā, known as "Charlie Girl", from the sanctuary to the Dunedin Botanic Garden aviary where Doc’s breed-for-release programme was housed.
The vet at the centre of that episode, Dr Christina Abramowicz, confirmed she, along with another, had been looking into how to privatise the sanctuary and were confident it could be done successfully.
Doc did not say yesterday what parties had already submitted expressions of interest to operate the sanctuary.
Mr Fleming did say the episode with Charlie Girl had nothing to do with the Doc review of the facility.
