It's likely that you've seen QEII referenced before. Whether it is in relation to a swimming pool in Christchurch, a park on the Kapiti coast, or in reference to royalty, it's an acronym that strikes familiarity. In the rural and conservation sectors, QEII is known to be short for the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust, a long-standing, well-respected contributor to habitat conservation in Aotearoa New Zealand. Formed by farmers in 1977, the name is becoming more familiar, with the trust recently reaching the milestone of protecting 5000 areas of land with an Open Space Covenant, done in partnership with landowners.
This adds up to more than 180,000 hectares of protected private land across the country, which is about the same area as the North Island's three national parks combined.
With almost 70 per cent of New Zealand in private land ownership, QEII Open Space Covenants are the most efficient and effective way to help protect the habitats of threatened animals and species, reverse the decline of indigenous biodiversity and preserve our history.
Open Space Covenants are bespoke legal agreements between QEII and a landowner that relate to a specified, surveyed piece of land. They create permanent constraints on what can and cannot be done on that land.
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The covenant is attached to the land title and remains in place in perpetuity, even if properties have a change in ownership.
Most frequently, covenants protect land with high biodiversity but also extend to landscape, cultural and historical values. Protected biodiversity areas range from primary forest systems, rare coastal habitats, grass and tussock lands, wetlands, riparian zones, and streams and the size of a covenant can range from small backyard patches to huge swathes of high country.
Many Open Space Covenants protect primary or secondary native forest. Because much of New Zealand's public conservation estate is in high and inaccessible country, those protected forests on private land are often very important because they are the last remnants of largely lost lowland ecosystems - especially so for things like swamp forests or dune forests.
Demand for covenanting has grown and the organisation continues to be busier than ever, establishing covenants is a core part of the work that QEII does, however they also support covenantors with their commitment to ongoing stewardship of protected areas, to ensure that conservation outcomes are enduring for generations to come.
Last year, QEII secured additional funding for four years, through DoC's Jobs for Nature programme. This work will be delivered through three projects, supporting conservation on private land. This includes the Protecting the Gains project, where QEII will work with landowners who have received funding through the Jobs for Nature programme to help secure enduring outcomes and two projects supporting existing QEII covenants - a deer exclusion project and a project to enhance stewardship of rare and threatened species in covenants in the Eastern South Island. QEII sees its relationships with landowners as key to its success. They have 29 regional representatives based all over the country, who are instrumental in creating and fostering lasting relationships with landowners as they are typically the main contact between the trust and landowners.
Reps will meet with landowners and work alongside the head office team on proposals for new protection and monitor established QEII covenants every other year. These monitoring visits allow QEII reps to check the condition of the protected values, raise any threats or management issues with the landowner, while also providing an opportunity to congratulate and encourage the landowners' achievements and to offer guidance where it is sought or needed.
Looking to the future, QEII plans to continue to inspire and help private land conservationists bring their ambitions to reality by establishing new covenants, adding to the growing number of protected areas and to help landowners to look after and enhance what they have protected.¦ -Supplied by QEll National Trust
