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Good practice Imported

QEII National Trust Open Space Covenants — Four Decades of Perpetual Private-Land Biodiversity Protection (New Zealand)

New Zealand · Wellington · See the New Zealand profile · See the Wellington profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 76% 33/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1977, New Zealand's QEII National Trust has registered voluntary, perpetual covenants protecting over 187,000 hectares of private land — forest, wetland and grassland habitat — but a funding freeze since 2015 now forces the Trust to turn away landowners on its waiting list.

187,202 hectares
Land protected
4,400+
Covenants registered
NZ$14 private per NZ$1 public
Private leverage ratio
NZ$4.2m to NZ$5.8m/year
Government funding increase, Budget 2026
QEII National Trust Open Space Covenants — Four Decades of Perpetual Private-Land Biodiversity Protection (New Zealand)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
QEII National Trust
Period
1977-present
Keywords
biodiversity conservation, private land stewardship, legal covenants, habitat protection

Context

Since 1977, New Zealand's QEII National Trust has registered voluntary, in-perpetuity open-space covenants on private land, reaching 187,202 hectares across 4,400+ covenants.

Results

Landowners' collective investment is estimated at NZ$1.1-1.3 billion (leveraging about NZ$14 private for every NZ$1 public); government funding was held flat 2015-2026, and the Trust says it can now complete only a quarter to a third of its recent annual covenant volume.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
QEII National Trust field officers, landowner covenant holders

Conditions for success

  • sustained, non-flat public co-financing matched to demand

Common failure modes

  • funding freeze since 2015 now forces the Trust to turn away landowners on its waiting list

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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