ESF Strongly Opposes Government's Planning Bill Reform, Warns of "Faster Destruction" for Endangered Species
- Natalie Jessup
- 47 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Tāngaro Tuia te Ora, the Endangered Species Foundation, has submitted in opposition to the Government's proposed Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill, warning that the reforms risk accelerating New Zealand's biodiversity crisis while undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnerships.
Matuku-hūrepo Australasian bittern. Image Craig McKenzie | Forest & Bird
With over 7,500 species currently at risk of extinction in Aotearoa, 800 at high risk, the proposed legislation creates a dangerous framework that prioritises development speed over ecological protection, while dismantling the partnership model that places Iwi as kaitiaki at the centre of environmental stewardship.
Aotearoa is home to unique biodiversity found nowhere else on Earth, and faces an extinction crisis. To turn things around, world-leading conservation requires legislation that sets measurable targets for environmental improvement, not frameworks that enable further degradation.
Critical Concerns
ESF has expressed deep concern that splitting environmental management into two separate bills would create fragmented decision-making that fails to protect the habitats critical to threatened species survival and removes iwi from their rightful leadership role in protecting taonga species and valued natural areas. Key concerns include:
Fragmented Decision-Making: The split into separate Planning and Natural Environment Bills creates an artificial divide between development and nature, allowing land-use decisions without adequate ecological integration.
Property Rights Over Ecology: The focus on compensating landowners for "regulatory takings" will pressure councils to permit habitat destruction rather than face litigation, despite many endangered species living on private land.
Undermining Te Tiriti Partnership and Iwi Leadership: The reforms threaten to dismantle the partnership model essential to environmental management in Aotearoa. By separating planning from protection and pursuing "streamlining," the bills bypass the deep consultation required to honour Te Tiriti. The role of Iwi and Hapū as kaitiaki is under threat, particularly regarding taonga species and valued natural areas. The legislation must provide genuine leadership and partnership roles for Iwi to enable authentic implementation of Te Tiriti, including treaty settlement rights and Crown obligations.
Silencing Communities: Restricting submission rights to only those "directly affected" excludes wider communities who are often first to identify ecological changes, effectively removing the voice of those who speak for species that cannot speak for themselves.
Loss of Precautionary Principle: Shifting from "managing effects" to "environmental limits" is dangerous when data on many at-risk species remains incomplete, permitting harmful activities by default.
Weakened Wildlife Protections: Transferring authority to harm wildlife from DOC to local councils risks putting life-or-death decisions for threatened species in the hands of bodies lacking specialist conservation expertise.
Water Mismanagement: The removal of "Te Mana o te Wai" hierarchy abandons the principle that water health must come first, while commercial entities continue extracting vast quantities with minimal cost or accountability.
"We cannot afford 'faster and simpler' processes if they result in 'faster and simpler' destruction of crucial habitats. A property right should not include the right to destroy habitats and drive species closer to extinction," the submission states.
Four Clear Demands
The Endangered Species Foundation is calling on the Government to:
Uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles and ensure iwi and hapū hold genuine leadership and partnership roles in environmental decision-making, not merely consultation rights
Integrate the Planning and Natural Environment Bills into a single, cohesive framework that prevents fragmented decision-making
Maintain broad standing for public submissions from scientists, NGOs, and key experts to ensure the environment has a voice
Ensure biodiversity restoration is a mandatory bottom line, not a negotiable trade-off.
The Foundation has requested to appear before the Environment Committee to speak in support of its submission.
Making Your Submission
Submissions close Friday 13th February at 4:30pm. You can read more in our submission below, and make your own submission by clicking on the button below.