Conservation covenants in New Zealand

Conservation convenants have received scant attention internationally as a tool for providing conservation. This paper examines their use in New Zealand, where they have been almost the sole policy measure in protecting land under private ownership, with landowners/managers surrendering some of their property rights in perpetuity in return for little if any compensation. A survey of covenantees in the Canterbury region of New Zealand revealed that a high proportion had entered the covenant for altruistic reasons, the main attraction being protection in perpetuity. Conservation covenants may therefore have wider appeal and are best suited to areas of land which are small proportions of commercial holdings, which have well-defined management prescriptions, little active management, and little conflict between conservation and other objectives for the land. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd