The Environment Commissioner wants the Government to make clear the status of land considered ''precious'' by New Zealanders but which has only a low level of protection from development.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has recently released a report on stewardship land - a category that covers a third of the conservation estate.
The Government needed to sort out the management and administration of stewardship land and make the changes needed to protect ''precious areas'' that fall under the category but which need greater protection, she said.
''I am particularly concerned about the process that allows for stewardship land to be swapped for private land. It is not up to dealing with complex decisions based on the concept of net conservation benefit.
''In line with this, I have recommended that new policy be developed, based on clear principles and transparent process. I have also recommended that areas of stewardship land that warrant higher protection be identified and protected through reclassification.
''I have no doubt we will see more commercial use of the conservation estate in the future, and it is vital that these issues around stewardship land be resolved to provide greater certainty for both conservation and business.''
Dr Wright said there were two case studies which showed the difficulties which could arise from a failure to confront the issues.
The first was Meridian Energy's application to build a hydro-electricity dam on the Mokihinui River on the West Coast - an application since withdrawn.
The second was the acquisition of Crystal Basin for the expansion of a skifield.
Dr Wright said in both cases the land was considered to have high conservation value, but was deemed stewardship land. Consequently, commercial operators were able to propose land swaps.
Both cases attracted a great deal of controversy and highlighted that there was work to be done before the public would have confidence in such deals, she said.
In the Mokihinui case, the conservation value of the river itself could not feature in the assessment of net conservation benefit because the riverbed was not administered by the Department of Conservation but was under Land Information New Zealand jurisdiction''This alone made the assessment meaningless,'' Dr Wright said.
''In the Crystal Basin case, the forested Banks Peninsula gully that was swapped for this alpine basin was already protected under the district plan.
''But under the law as it stands, land swaps need only lead to a net conservation benefit for the conservation estate.
''That this coastal lowland forest was already protected was deemed irrelevant.
''Over the years, concern about stewardship land has been expressed from time to time, notably by the New Zealand Conservation Authority.
''Since more commercial enterprises look likely to take place on the conservation estate, getting ahead of the game by resolving these issues could potentially save both heated arguments and wasted resources,'' Dr Wright said.