Environment pivotal in Green Party tourism policy

The Green Party’s new tourism policy – launched today – will ensure New Zealand lives up to its clean green image and provides sustainable tourism for both domestic and international visitors.

“The tourism industry is vital to our economy and we need to ensure the clean green image it’s based on is a reality. If we don’t protect New Zealand’s unique environment, the tourism industry will suffer,” Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman says.

“I'm in Northland today at the launch of a new community proposal to restore Doubtless Bay to the kind of state that tourists expect when they come to 'clean and green' New Zealand. Sadly Doubtless Bay is currently heavily polluted from sewerage and agricultural pollution and fish stocks are heavily depleted from unsustainable fishing practices. The Bay is frequently unsafe for swimming due to agricultural pollution after heavy rains and there have been several sewerage spills in the last month or so.

“A recent survey shows nine out of ten tourists prefer having eco-tourism options. New Zealand is uniquely placed to capture part of the growing eco-tourism market, as long as we take real action to make our 100% pure message credible.

“Over recent years our rivers and beaches have become highly polluted and our greenhouse emissions have increased dramatically. Tourists do not come to New Zealand to swim with cow faeces. If we want international tourists to keep coming we need to clean up our rivers and show we are good global citizens by reducing the ecological footprint of our country.”

The Green Party will introduce a range of initiatives to promote sustainable tourism for both Kiwis and visitors. These include:

Taking real action to reduce climate change and clean up our rivers, lakes and beaches.
Promoting and supporting domestic tourism
Promoting rail travel and additional passenger rail options for tourists and locals
Assisting tourist operators to promote environmental awareness
A community development fund to provide start up capital for eco-tourism ventures
Supporting Maori ecological tourism
Ensuring the Department of Conservation has enough funding to provide clean and safe visitor services, and re-establish campgrounds on DOC land
Developing cycle routes, including a national cycleway from North Cape to the Bluff to complement the national walkway Te Araroa

“We were originally considering the introduction of a small levy paid once a year by international tourists to fund conservation work and to support smaller councils under pressure from high visitor numbers. Under that proposal visitors would have received a glossy coffee table book showing how their money was spent keeping New Zealand clean and green. However, in light of the international situation and dropping tourist numbers, we don’t believe now is the time to introduce such a levy but would discuss it further with the industry when conditions improve.”

* A summary of the full policy is available at: http://www.greens.org.nz/policy/summary/tourism