DOC

DOC’s Lou Sanson on the impact of climate change, changing visitor behaviour, and moving beyond sustainable tourism.

The fin of a rare Hector’s dolphin on the eastern seaboard of the Coromandel Peninsula has been sighted.

The Department of Conservation and the New Zealand Alpine Club are celebrating 30 years of managing huts together in the West Matukituki Valley, Mt Aspiring National Park.

More than 6600 bed nights have been snapped up on the newest Great Walk – 91% of them by New Zealanders.

DOC has implemented an advisory system for ‘bad weather days’ on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing that will run until the end of the summer walking season.

A ‘difficult-to-fix’ slip will mean the middle section of the new Paparoa Track will be closed when it opens on 1 December.

The Diamond Lake Track near Wanaka has reopened following extensive repair work.

Upgrades to Northern Coromandel campgrounds have taken place over winter as the Department of Conservation looks to improve the long-term sustainability of Coromandel camping holidays.

Te Araroa trail walkers are being urged to take a pledge before embarking on the 3000km journey.

A new bridge on West Auckland’s  Te Henga Walkway is now open, replacing the 30-year-old bridge on the popular coastal track.

The Porirua Adventure Park has been given the green light following its final consent being signed off by the Department of Conservation.

Dolphin Seafaris has been awarded the Department of Conservation’s Sustainable Marine Mammal Actions in Recreation & Tourism accreditation.

Income from aircraft landings, ski areas, tourism occupations, and guiding grew significantly.

New Zealanders remain largely satisfied with Department of Conservation major heritage and landscape attractions, despite concerns over the impact of increasing international visitor numbers, according to the department’s 2019 annual report.

Operators Grant Webster, Verity Webber, Kauahi Ngapora, and Dr Gerry McSweeney will help decide how funds from the visitor levy will be deployed.

The Department of Conservation, in partnership with Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development, has launched what it says is a “world first” nature app that incorporates Te Reo Māori, Chinese and English translations.

Operators planning products in some national parks may have a long wait ahead following a new order from the conservation minister.

One of the most iconic landscapes on the planet must move up the value chain as visitor numbers boom, says DOC’s director-general.

The Department of Conservation has picked four rangers to attend the World Ranger Congress in Nepal on 12-16 November. 

The Department of Conservation’s senior ranger and supervisor, Suvi van Smit, is the 2019 winner of the Stephen O’Dea Developmental Award.

The Department of Conservation is seeking volunteers to help with the clean-up of the Fox Glacier landfill riverbed on the West Coast.

All of the 10 tracks in the Bay of Islands have been closed permanently.

Around 9000 Great Walks bookings have been made in the week since the 2019/20 season bookings opened on 11 June, said the Department of Conservation.

Milford Track is now full from mid-November to mid-February after bookings opened yesterday.

Commercial operators using the West Coast Te Tai o Poutini and hoping to access Paparoa Track when it opens in December have been thrown a curve-ball as a result of the Department of Conservation running into legal issues.

Operators weigh in after Eugenie Sage pours cold water on “high intensity” activities on the conservation estate.

The minister on Skyline’s glacier gondola, accommodation proposals and “tranquility mapping” the national parks.

Increasing numbers of visitors continue to flock to New Zealand’s conservation estate, growing at more than double the pace of overall New Zealand visitor numbers, according to the Department of MORE »

DOC raked in more money and saw more domestic but fewer international visitors on its Great Walks this season.

More than a third of the tourism operators using the conservation estate in parts of the Bay of Plenty did not have a concession, says the Department of Conservation.

DOC’s Director General on the agency’s work with industry, managing compliance, and planning for future growth.

DOC has moved its visitor centre services ahead of a planned upgrade to the Arthur’s Pass national park visitor centre later this year.

The opening of New Zealand’s tenth Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, has been pushed back by two months to allow more time for track construction.

The track should never have been promoted as one of the NZ’s ‘great day walks’, says DOC’s director general.

DOC’s director general calls out operators for not doing enough to protect the environment they profit from.

NZers have “come back onto our tracks in droves” after overseas visitor fees were hiked, says DOC’s director general.

New recreational activities will also be considered in a review of the park’s management plan.

The expansion of Kahurangi National Park will help protect the added land for generations of visitors to come, say operators in the region.

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The Department of Conservation has rejected criticism that it was cause of delays to NZSki’s $16m chairlift upgrade at The Remarkables.

Collaboration between the i-SITE Visitor Information Network and the Department of Conservation has stepped up a notch in Rotorua with the opening of a new DOC visitor information hub in the tourism hotspot’s central i-SITE.

DOC’s new head of Heritage and Visitors, Steve Taylor, on the changes being made to ‘front foot’ the opportunities and risks of visitor growth. 

DOC has delayed its review of its Aoraki/Mount Cook and Westland Tai Poutini national parks plans because of an iwi concessions case.

Seabirds are being dazzled into crash landing on cruise ships in the Hauraki Gulf.

The beach and access area to Cape Kidnappers are to remain closed following a slip that injured two Korean tourists. 

The Department of Conservation has restructured its Recreation, Tourism and Heritage unit and has appointed a new director of the reformed division.

Another effort imploring visitors to behave has been launched, this time by the Department of Conservation.

The Department of Conservation’s new plan to manage the growing numbers of visitors accessing New Zealand’s conservation estate is on track to be delivered this financial year, according to DOC’s just released 2018 annual report.

The duo have this month agreed that the partnership will continue until 2022.

New Zealanders are being urged to quiz visitors on their tramping plans and to offer advice following the death of a walker at Ruapehu last week.