Header image: Sue Martin, Musterers Hut

FMC President Allan Brent flew to Wellington to present an oral submission on the Conservation Amendment Bill this month. We were one of 21 organisations invited to present to the Select Committee, and it was a real privilege to do so.

Allan reminded the Select Committee that for New Zealanders, public conservation lands are theirs, and their home. FMC's view is that the Bill should prioritise the conservation and protection of these lands and access to them. Without the changes FMC and others are arguing for, the Bill would prioritise economic development, and its broad and encompassing provisions risk locking ordinary New Zealanders out of public land.

Allan also argued that decision-making powers shouldn't be centralised to the Minister, whose priorities shift between Government cycles. The New Zealand Conservation Authority and conservation boards must retain at least joint approval powers, to ensure everyday Kiwis are represented.

The Committee will report back to Parliament after the election. Because its report might change what conservation land is for, who it is for, and who decides, and because key aspects of the Bill are so unsettled even within the government, we are asking for everyone to have another chance to submit once there is a draft Bill that has genuine government backing.

Image: Glen Howey

FMC also lodged its submission on the National Conservation Policy Statement (NCPS) this month. The NCPS will be enabled through the Conservation Amendment Bill and guides all national policies related to our public conservation land. 

Our submission provided detailed answers to the questions in the NCPS proposal document and presented 16 recommendations to DOC.  

It raised issues including the NCPS placing too much emphasis on enabling commercial use of public conservation land, vague and undefined provisions that could allow inappropriate development while lacking clear safeguards for conservation and public access, people undertaking voluntary work requiring commercial concessions, and a potential lack of management around commercial activities that could result in loss of tranquillity and environmental degradation. 

We support faster, simpler planning processes, but not at the expense of our wild places and New Zealanders' enjoyment of them. 
 
Read our full submission below. 

Image: David Stephenson

We celebrated a huge win for outdoor recreation in Aotearoa this month!

The years of work we put in alongside Aotearoa Climbing Access Trust and a coalition of recreation groups paid off with the recently passed Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act which provides greater certainty for landowners who allow recreational access to their land.

The law now says landowners can now permit access for activities like tramping and climbing without fearing liability for recreation-related accidents. However, we'll need to keep letting people know about this as we understand WorkSafe were very reluctant to adopt this position.

Our coalition is continuing to work together and with officials on the guidance that will sit beneath the new law to make sure the position about sensibly low levels of club liability are clear, and so everyone understands the changes.

Image: Jason Blair

Plans for Love Our Huts season 3 are well underway and we're excited to see if even more huts get loved this summer. To help make this happen, we've developed a fantastically simple map-based hut registration website with easy reporting and photo-upload capabilities.

Hut registrations will open on 1 October 2026 along with the launch of our new Love Our Huts website, and hut loving will take place from 1 November until 30 April 2027.

With thanks to the Tūpiki Trust and HutBagger for helping make Love Our Huts possible this coming season.

Image: Alison Arron

Once a year, FMC awards Expedition Scholarships and Training Grants to FMC members who have ideas in mind but need some financial support getting them off the ground. 

• If you’re under 30, you can apply for a Youth Expedition Scholarship and have the chance of being awarded up to $1500. Previous recipients have used the scholarship to explore the Olivines Wilderness Area, navigate challenging conditions from Hollyford to the Matukituki, and undertake mega multi-day missions across the Southern Alps.

• Adventurers of any age can apply for the Simon Bell Memorial Scholarship, which awards $1000. A recent recipient was able to take on a Fiordland expedition to the highest waterfalls in the Southern Hemisphere with this scholarship.  

• FMC member clubs can apply for a Training Grant to help with the cost of training courses to make sure members are skilled, safe, and confident in the great outdoors. The Grants have helped clubs upskill in bushcraft, snow skills and outdoor leadership. 

Applications close on 15 September, so don’t miss out. You can apply and read about how previous recipients have used their scholarship/grant here for Expedition Scholarships and here for Training Grants. Any queries can be sent to eo@fmc.org.nz.  

We love our scholarships and grants, as they're one of the key ways we can help afford young people a life in the outdoors. They allow us to celebrate both the recipients and the right of passage of the "big trip" that introduced so many of us to a lifelong love of the outdoors. 

Keep your eyes peeled on this area as we are working with John Simpson of the Maerewhenua Trust to bring an exciting refresh of the scholarships and grants next year. 

Image: Debbie Hogan, taken of 2020 Training Grant recipients Nelson Tramping Club

Entries for our Photo Competition will close on 1 September 2026 for individual supporters and 15 September 2026 for clubs, so don't miss out! 

There's a category for every type of explorer: 

• Above Bushline with or without human element  

• Below Bushline with or without human element 

• Historic 

• Native Flora, Fauna & Fungi 

• Long Exposure 

We have some amazing prizes lined up that will keep you warm, dry, and entertained on your next trip into the backcountry.

Find out more and apply via our website here. Any questions can be sent to photocomp@fmc.org.nz.  

Hazel Phillips’ fifth book, Great Hearts: First Ladies of Aoraki Mount Cook, will be on sale on September 10. Great Hearts tells the stories of 30 early women mountaineers, from 1873 (when Joanna Harper walked on the glaciers of Mount Cook) to 1953 (the first all-women, unguided ascent of Aoraki). Great Hearts was supported by a book grant towards production costs from FMC Mountain & Forest Trust.

Hazel says the project, which she researched for nearly a decade, has been about writing our early women climbers back into history.

“I want the stories in this book to show contemporary female climbers that a path has already been carved out for them by these very tough, tenacious women,” she says.

“Representation is incredibly important — you can’t be what you can’t see. Their stories have been sidelined, marginalised, forgotten and buried — I hope that Great Hearts properly brings them back into the spotlight.”

The book blends nonfiction with fiction stories, reimagined from the perspective and point of view of each of the 30 women.

“When the archive is empty, the traditional historian stops. But taking an approach of creative scholarship can help us fill in the blanks and bring history to life in new ways.”

Read more about Great Hearts here. 

August's theme was strengthening the recreational, conservation, and environmental integrity of public conservation lands.

As you can tell from this newsletter, we advocated strongly to protect public conservation land and our access to it this month. We lodged our submission on the National Conservation Policy Statement, presented oral submissions on the Conservation Amendment Bill and Evangeline Bivvy disposal, and continued working with DOC to ensure they aren't unlawfully closing tracks.

The theme for September is to protect and enhance access to public lands.

Image: Chris Brinlee

As always, our work is only possible with the support of our funders. Thank you for being on this journey with us, powering us to advocate for and protect an outdoor life worth living.

Youth award grants, expedition scholarships, training grants, Love Our Huts, submissions - it’s all possible thanks to you!

We’re all here for a common reason - we love our beautiful outdoors - and we’re hell-bent on keeping them that way.

“We must closely guard the welfare of our National Parks and Reserves. These should not be regarded as the property of our minister or the government. They belong to the people of today and tomorrow. We must fight for their protection if necessary.” Fred Vosseler – Inaugural FMC President (1932)