Franklin Districts' natural feature resources include indigenous flora and fauna, terrestrial ecosystems, habitats, landforms, geological features, soils, and aspects of the coastal environment.

Through the District Plan, Council seeks to sustainably manage the natural features in the Franklin District.
The Franklin District Plan provides landowners with opportunities to protect the natural features on their property through two means;

Incentives for the protection of natural features including:

Conservation Covenants

Whether you have created a conservation covenant or inherited one when you bought your property, they are a big commitment. This is why Council and the community take it very seriously when you don’t fulfil your responsibility as an owner of covenanted land.  

• Read More about Conservation Covenants

Rates Relief

Council may provide up to 100% rates remission for land comprising natural features that have been appropriately physically and legally protected on a voluntary basis, usually unrelated to subdivision.
 

• Rates Relief Brochure (pdf, 52kb)

Scheduling of outstanding natural features for protection in the District Plan

The District Plan approach to the protection of 'outstanding natural features', is to list these in a schedule of features within the Plan. Items in schedule 5A of the Plan are protected through the following methods;

• Inclusion in a conservation zone: for example, the Hunua Ranges, and the Waikato river and its associated wetlands
• In Public Ownership:  Generally with a reserve status eg, Awhitu Regional Park Swamp
• All other sites:  A resource consent is required for activities that would modify, damage or destroy any area or item in schedule 5A.

Anticipated Results

The anticipated results of the Franklin District Plan's conservation objectives are:

• A greater public awareness of the type, location, significance, and vulnerability of natural features, the available methods of protection, and of general conservation issues facing the District
• Outstanding natural features are protected with certainty
• A representative sample of natural heritage resources is protected
• A willingness by landowners to achieve conservation objectives in partnership with the District Council and wider community

Useful Links

• Auckland Regional Council
• Waikato Regional Council (Environment Waikato)
• Queen Elizabeth II National Trust:
  QEII provides opportunity to legally protect privately owned areas of open space, without jeopardising the rights of ownership.
• Envirofunz:
  A database of funding information commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment to provide help to groups and individuals looking for funding for environmental and conservation projects.
• The Funding Information Service:
  The Funding Information Service is a not-for-profit organisation collecting and distributing information about funding by way of two searchable computer databases.
• The Department of Conservation
• Ministry for the Environment
• Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research
• Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc.
• New Zealand Birds 
  
• Biosecurity
  Biosecurity refers to measures that protect New Zealand's economy, environment and people from exotic pests and diseases. The aim is to prevent new pests and diseases arriving, and to ensure eradication or control of those already here.   For all plant and animal pest enquiries please contact the ARC's Biosecurity Team on (09) 366 2000 or 0800 806040 or biosecurity@arc.govt.nz, or Environment Waikato on (07) 859 0999 or contact them via their above links.