About Wild Rivers

The Wild Rivers campaign was initially created by Forest and Bird, Whitewater NZ, Federated Mountain Clubs and Fish and Game.

Each of these organisations was individually deeply concerned about the rising threat to our Wild Rivers, and other river values. Previous collaborations have included the Living Rivers Coalition and the Wild River Action Project. These four organisations joined half a dozen others in mid-2009 to create the Wild Rivers campaign.

However, the history of campaigning to protect New Zealand's magnificant wild rivers stretches back into our conservation history - back to the major campaigns to save Lake Manapouri from a proposal to raise the lake level for the power-station, and fights to protect the mighty Clutha River. Over 200,000 Kiwis signed the Manapouri petition.

These campaigns sparked calls for law reform, resulting in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which became the Water Conservation Order mechanism in the Resource Management Act.

This article from the FMC Bulletin explains the history of wild river advocacy in New Zealand.