The Guardians of Lake Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau is a statutory body appointed to make recommendations to the New Zealand Minister of Conservation on any matters arising from the environmental, ecological, and social effects of the operation of the

Manapouri Power Station Manapouri is a small town in Southland, New Zealand, Southland / Fiordland, in the southwest corner of the South Island, in New Zealand. The township is the Extreme points of New Zealand#Westernmost settlements, westernmost municipality in Ne ...

on the townships of

Manapouri Manapouri is a small town in Southland / Fiordland, in the southwest corner of the South Island, in New Zealand. The township is the westernmost municipality in New Zealand. Located at the edge of the Fiordland National Park, on the eastern ...

and

Te Anau Te Anau is a town in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland List of regions in New Zealand, region of the South Island of New Zealand. In Māori language, Māori, Te-Anau means the Place of the Swirling Waters. It is on the eastern shore of Lake ...

Lake Manapouri Lake Manapouri () is located in the South Island of New Zealand. The lake is situated within the Fiordland National Park and the wider region of Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. Māori History According to Māori peop ...

and

Lake Te Anau Lake Te Anau () is in the southwestern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The lake covers an area of , making it the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupō) and the largest in the South Island. It is the ...

and their shorelines, and on the rivers flowing in and out of those lakes, having particular regard to the effects of the operation on social values, conservation, recreation, tourism, and related activities and amenities. The

Conservation Act 1987 The Conservation Act 1987 is New Zealand's principal act concerning the conservation of indigenous biodiversity. The Act established the Department of Conservation (who administer the Act) and Fish and Game, and complements the National Pa ...

sets out the functions and roles of the Guardians. Since 1998, the act stipulates that at least one Guardian must be a person nominated by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. The setting up of the Guardians was a result of the

Save Manapouri campaign The Save Manapouri campaign was an environmental campaign waged between 1969 and 1972 in New Zealand to prevent the raising of the levels of lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as part of the construction of the Manapouri Power Project. Origins The ...

but came as a surprise. Shortly after the 1972 general election, the new prime minister,

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until h ...

, rang

Alan Mark Sir Alan Francis Mark (born 19 June 1932) is a New Zealand botanist and environmentalist. He was an initial member of the Save Manapouri campaign and the inaugural chair of the Guardians of Lake Manapouri for 26 years. Biography Mark was born ...

and asked him whether he would lead a group whose role it was to protect the lakes. The initial six Guardians, as chosen by Kirk, were all prominent leaders of the Save Manapouri Campaign. Mark became the inaugural chairperson and held this role for 26 years: *

(chairperson; later knighted) * Ron McLean * Wilson Campbell *

Les Hutchins Leslie Hutchins (8 December 1924 – 19 December 2003) was a New Zealand tourism operator and conservationist. Together with his wife, he bought a tourism company in 1954 that is today RealNZ; it still remains mostly in family ownership. Hutchi ...

* John Moore * Jim McFarlane The current Guardians are: * Darryl Sycamore (chair) * Bill Jarvie * Dave Riddell * Dr. Jane Kitson (Ngāi Tahu representative) * Madeleine Peacock (deputy chair) * Sandra Cook (Ngāi Tahu representative) * Dr. Sue Bennett * Tom Ives

References

Fiordland Environmental organisations based in New Zealand Government agencies of New Zealand {{NewZealand-org-stub