Belonging to some organisations can prove costly, even if they happen to be international conservation bodies.
When the New Zealand Conservation Authority met in Dunedin this week, it decided to continue its membership of the the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) although membership costs are rising.
IUCN is the world's oldest and largest global environmental network, which involves more than 1000 government and NGO member organisations throughout the world.
The authority approved payment of the 2009 membership fee, amounting to NZ$5445.98, late last month.
Authority members heard the fee may have risen about $2000 since last year, including the effect of adverse exchange-rate changes involving the New Zealand dollar.
Conservation authority chairman Don Ross said that continuing links with IUCN were positive.
