The Wakatipu community appreciates the opportunity to have an early say on how conservation will be managed over the next decade and parties are considering their responses, the Department of Conservation (Doc) says.
About 15 individuals and representatives of commercial guiding companies and the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club attended the open day regarding the draft Otago Conservation Management Strategy last Wednesday in the Doc Wakatipu area office.
The management strategy is a 10-year plan discussing how Doc would manage public conservation land and waters, and the priorities for conservation of natural and historical resources.
The previous strategy was written in 1998.
Doc Wakatipu community relations programme manager John Roberts said the department was seeking community input around the South, at the strategy's earliest stage.
"As part of that process, we're looking at having a draft document out in May, but prior to that, a series of public meetings to get input on local issues and interests, so some of those can be incorporated into the draft," Mr Roberts said.
Earlier this month Doc held meetings with user groups including mountain bikers, aviation and the film industry.
Parties were not expressing any great demands, but they were digesting information on how the process worked, Mr Roberts said.
There would be ongoing engagement with the community and residents could submit feedback at any time, in the area office, in Arthurs Point.
