National WARO Review - New Land Schedule Approved
10 July 2023
Dear NZDA Members,
DOC has received feedback from NZDA, various local NZDA branches, and other stakeholders on changes to the national WARO land schedule during three rounds of stakeholder consultation prior to February this year. Our feedback has been considered against DOC’s obligations under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 and its statutory planning policies.
DOC says all feedback was assessed and a land schedule review report was then finalised and submitted to the new Director, Office of Regulatory Services (i.e. the decision maker).
DOC has made its decision and a new national WARO land schedule has now been approved and published. See further below for the maps.
The report, 2023 maps, and associated information are now available to view on the Department’s website: National WARO review.
Please note that WARO operators cannot use the new maps until a new permit offer is finalised. This is a seperate concession process that we assume is now underway.
We also note that tahr recovery is excluded from this process and a seperate recovery concession system is in place under the tahr plan by which operators apply to harvest tahr.
New National WARO Land Schedule
The report, 2023 maps and associated information are now available to view on the Department’s website: View them here.
Note: The Department has separately commissioned an independent assessment of perceived problems with the WARO system to identify any improvements that could increase the effectiveness and sustainability of WARO’s contribution whilst minimizing conflict with other users. This will also be considered by the report on WARO applications and proposed permit conditions with a decision and offer expected by the spring of 2023.
What is WARO?
WARO is wild animal recovery operations. You need a WARO concession for pig, goat and chamois carcass recovery and the live capture of deer, pig and goat.
When and why a WARO concession is needed:
- a WARO concession is needed any time an aircraft is used commercially to search for, shoot or recover wild animals (or parts of wild animals) on public conservation land
- wild animals like deer are present throughout the country with significant numbers in some places
- New Zealand’s native plants and habitats are being eaten and damaged by wild animals, and the function of many ecosystems are being threatened
- WARO, alongside recreational hunting and government operations, can play a role in managing deer and other wild animals on public conservation land.
A WARO concession is available for:
- the supply of deer, pig, goat and chamois to Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) approved processors, and
- live capture of the same wild animals (excluding chamois) to be placed on authorised properties.
Applicants must:
- have a current supply contract with an approved processor, or a marketing entity that has a contract for processing carcasses with a MPI approved processor, and
- meet the MPI requirements for these activities.
See more information here.