Department of Conservation

By TRACEY ROXBURGH An Aussie professor and tourism expert says the tourism industry needs to change to a ‘‘net benefit model’’. Susanne Becken , Queensland’s Griffith University’s professor of sustainable tourism and Department of Conservation’s principal science investment advisor, spoke the...

By GUY WILLIAMS The backers of a major extension to the Queenstown Trail have finally got a date to argue their case before council-appointed commissioners. The Queenstown Trails Trust’s plan to build cycling routes between Arthurs Point, Tucker Beach and Arrowtown...

By PHILIP CHANDLER Spare a thought for five Queenstown triathletes entering New Zealand’s biggest ironman after being mucked around this month. Aaron Fleming, who’s tackling Taupo’s Ironman NZ for an incredible 10th time, Paul Preston, who has completed three full ironmans...

By PHILIP CHANDLER New Zealand’s biggest freedom camping organisation’s taking Queenstown’s council to the High Court for effectively, in its eyes, banning freedom camping. NZ Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA) alleges the council failed to provide areas where self-contained campervans could go when it...

By TRACEY ROXBURGH Fresh from the release of his report on sustainable tourism, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, will speak at a public lecture in Queenstown. Upton’s report, ‘Not 100% — but four steps closer to sustainable tourism’, was...

By GUY WILLIAMS A Queenstown tramping enthusiast is sounding a note of alarm over the number of walkers he encountered camping at the head of Earnslaw Burn at the weekend. Greg Thompson says he and six fellow members of the Wakatipu...

By GUY WILLIAMS The Glenorchy Community Association’s hoping to nab $700,000 in Jobs for Nature funding for a project designed to address the township’s wellbeing issues as well as its biodiversity goals. If the application’s successful, the ‘Glenorchy Eastern Biodiversity Corridor’...

By GUY WILLIAMS The consortium behind a $30 million plan to eradicate or intensively control predators across a vast swathe of the Queenstown Lakes district is back to square one after a series of funding setbacks. The Southern Lakes Sanctuary, unveiled in...

By GUY WILLIAMS The Whakatipu Conservation Celebration planned for tonight at the Kiwi Birdlife Park has been knocked on the head because of the elevated Covid alert level earlier this week. But one of the speakers lined up for the event,...

By MATTHEW MCKEW There's been movement, finally. Department of Conservation’s (DoC) dropped the news it’ll install a toilet on Queenstown’s Ben Lomond to stop caught-short hikers causing a mess. It comes a year after the mountain was dubbed ‘‘faecal peak’’ for the...

By GUY WILLIAMS A Queenstown carpenter’s transforming his body for the challenge of his life. Stefan Heinrich says he ‘‘caught the bug’’ when he ran the 15km Miners Trail at last year’s Motatapu multisport event, and decided to give himself a...

By PHILIP CHANDLER As it ticked over 35 years last week, Queenstown’s Kiwi Birdlife Park shared a lot in common with the endangered species it supports — both are in the business of survival. In 2019, with visitor numbers totalling 55,000-odd,...