Proposing Crown Protected Area Names

The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) has a legislative responsibility to review and concur with official names for Crown protected areas (CPAs), such as national parks and reserves.

Only the Department of Conservation can propose names for CPAs to the NZGB. If members of the public wish to name a CPA, they must contact DOC directly. It is not mandatory for DOC to propose names for all CPAs, however proposed names need to meet the NZGB’s Interim Standard for Crown Protected Area Names.

What is a Crown protected area?

CPAs are areas of land administered by DOC, typically for conservation purposes. CPAs include:

• conservation parks, ecological areas, sanctuary areas, wilderness areas or any other specified purpose (Conservation Act 1987)
• government purpose reserves, historic reserves, nature reserves, recreation reserves, scenic reserves, scientific reserves (Reserves Act 1977)
• marine reserves (Marine Reserves Act 1971)
• national parks (National Parks Act 1980)

Note that reserves vested in territorial authorities cannot be assigned official names by the NZGB.

How the NZGB considers CPA proposals

The NZGB reviews and concurs with CPA name proposals from DOC to ensure the proposal meets the NZGB’s Interim Standard for Crown Protected Area Names. The NZGB will consult the public if DOC has not already done so. Any submissions received by the NZGB will be sent to DOC to consider in relation to their proposal. If, following public consultation, the NZGB does not concur with the proposal then it is referred to the Minister for Conservation to make a final determination.  If the NZGB concurs with the proposal, then they will make the final determination.

The general process for how a CPA name proposal is considered by the NZGB is:

1. DOC undertakes research and necessary consultation, then fills in a proposal form
2. proposal received from DOC by the NZGB secretariat
3. research, investigation and validation by the secretariat, plus consultation - if required
4. the NZGB determines whether consultation has been completed and if not then it calls for submissions and refers these to DOC
5. the NZGB reviews the proposal in relation to the naming rules
6. if the NZGB does not concur, the Minister for Conservation makes the final determination
7. if the NZGB concurs, then they make the final determination
8. the official CPA name is published in the NZ Gazette, is publicly notified, and is entered into the New Zealand Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names
9. the name is added to DOCgis GeoSpatial Information Platform.

Download a detailed flow-chart of the process for naming Crown Protected Areas (pdf 131KB).

How to make a proposal

Only DOC can propose names for CPAs to the NZGB.  If members of the public wish to name a CPA, they must contact DOC directly. DOC is to use the following steps to help them prepare it's proposal.

1. Check for existing names and recent decisions

All current official names are listed in the New Zealand Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names, DOC should check this list to determine whether the proposedCPA already has an official name. Many features also have unofficial names - get help finding names.

Check the details of proposals that are currently and have recently been considered by the NZGB in consultation and decisions.

2. Fill in the proposal form

All proposals must be made on the official proposal form. Use the RTF version if you would like to open and edit. Use the PDF version if you would like to print the form.

• Proposal form (rtf 202KB) and (pdf 189KB)
• Notes for completing proposal form (rtf 223KB) and (pdf 125KB)

The Te Reo Māori versions of the above forms, online proposals and submissions are not available at this stage.

3. Provide supporting documentation

Provide as much information as possible to explain and support your proposed name.

It is especially important to clearly and unambiguously identify the location and extent of the CPA name being proposed. This is best achieved by identifying the feature or place on a map with a defined scale. It is also important to include a central coordinate or grid reference of the CPA (get help understanding datums and projections.)

Explain why the proposed name should be adopted for the particular CPA. Useful information to provide could include documentary evidence of the history, origin, meaning and significance of both the name and CPA. Note that the NZGB has certain rules around what features can be named and what they can be named after - find out more about the Interim Crown Protected Area Naming Standard. Other information such as research material, photographs and references can also be useful to the NZGB.

4. Consultation

Consultation is determined by the legislation that creates the CPA. If DOC consults other people or groups about the proposal, it must include any documentary evidence of their support or views.

5. Send proposal to the NZGB

Post or email proposals to the address in contact the NZGB. Note that proposals and supporting material provided to the NZGB will not be returned.

Privacy

Once the NZGB has received a proposal it becomes a public record. If the NZGB publishes information about the proposal, it will generally omit names of private individuals to protect their privacy. However, the NZGB may be required to release all information including all correspondence under the Official Information Act 1982 or other legislation.