Marian van der Goes has always had an interest in people and perceptions of the land.
This week, that interest will lift a level as she takes on the role of Otago's conservator and becomes responsible for the region's public lands.
"It is real privilege to look after some of New Zealand's treasures."
She has a unique background for the job: she and husband Ray Grubb ran Lake Brunner Lodge on the West Coast for 18 years and spent a short time running Real Journeys in Milford Sound.
Most recently, she has spent four years as the Department of Conservation's Otago community relations manager.
"Because I come from a business and tourism background, I see there is very important connectivity in those areas."
Ms van der Goes (53) says tourism based on conservation has been happening for more than 100 years, attracting people to "jewels in the crown" such as the West Coast glaciers, Mt Cook and Milford Sound.
There were also "fabulous" models within Otago which showed how business and conservation could work side by side, such as the Otago Rail Trail, she said.
"It's something fantastic Otago has, that everyone now wants a bit of."
Her own experience at Lake Brunner Lodge on the West Coast was another example, she said.
She and her husband converted the Californian bungalow pub into an up-market accommodation house, complete with specialist trout-fishing service.
Their neighbours were the Department of Conservation and the farming community.
As they began to realise that environmental tourism could be important to their business, Ms van der Goes dusted off knowledge gained during her geography degree, and her interest in native plants, and took people on guided walks into the nearby scenic reserve.
"I connected with the environment and learned how to get people excited and enthusiastic about what they were seeing."
That experience taught her what it was like to live in an isolated place - she grew up in Auckland and went to university in Hamilton - and the importance of community in those places.
She became involved in the West Coast Conservation Board, but soon realised the "issues that irritated me" were national policy issues, so she applied to and was appointed to the New Zealand Conservation Authority.
As a co-owner of a small regional tourism business until the lodge was sold in 2001, she also became interested in regional tourism, chairing Tourism West Coast for five years.
Her profile also led to a seat on the West Coast health board, which she also chaired for five years.
She believes that experience will help her deal with the inevitable criticism that will come with her new job.
The best way to handle it was to be transparent about why decisions were made and hope that people, even if they did not like a decision, could understand why it was made, she said.
So she understood people wanting to be involved in their community, and while Doc was a leader in conservation in New Zealand, many other people also played a part: neighbours, farmers, tourism operators, community groups and tangata whenua, she said.
"Public conservation land needs to cater for all groups. The range is enormous, which makes it interesting and challenging, and sometimes you get solutions to issues that are really rewarding.
"That is what makes it worthwhile. You try to balance all demands."
Much of Doc's planning had been looking at how to manage those issues and "any conflicts, real or perceived" in terms of different demands, she said.
"There should be places to go where people can experience nature, on nature's terms."
However, demographic changes meant some people might never get the chance to do that, she said.
"There should be ways public conservation land can be accessed, and that may be with a concessionaire."
New Zealand's economic challenges would have "repercussions", and budget changes would require finding ways to "work smarter, just like everyone else", she said.
Another issue was how to respond to the demand for communities and other enterprises to become more involved in conservation.
"We want to encourage that, but clearly we do not have the resources to do everything everyone asks of us. So we need to manage that demand and opportunity to get the best result for Otago and New Zealand."
There had been a period of significant growth in the amount of public conservation land in Otago through tenure review and it was time to slow down, consolidate and spend time developing relationships and support, she said.
"We've got to work with folk . . . to get the best result we can within the wider resource."
