Reserves Act 1977

Classification and management of reserves - Classification and purpose of reserves

21: Scientific reserves

You could also call this:

"Special protected areas for science and learning"

When you visit a scientific reserve, you are in a special place. The government wants to protect and preserve this area for scientific study, research, and education. This means they want to keep the plants, animals, and soil in the area safe for a long time.

You might not be able to enter some parts of the reserve without a permit from the Minister, who is in charge of these areas. The Minister can stop people from entering the reserve by putting a notice in the Gazette. If you want to enter the reserve, you need to get a permit under section 48A or section 59.

The Minister also wants to make sure that any special features in the reserve, like scenic or historic areas, are protected. However, they must follow the rules of other laws, like the Wildlife Act 1953 and the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014, when dealing with animals or archaeological features.

The Minister can also let people do experiments in the reserve to learn more about science, but only if it does not harm the area. The reserve's value as a place to conserve soil, water, and forests will also be maintained.

If the reserve is an island, making contact with the land by boat can be considered as entering the reserve. The foreshore, which is the area where the land meets the sea, is also part of the reserve, even if it is not officially included.

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This page was last updated on 18 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM444617.

Topics:

Environment and resources > ConservationEnvironment and resources > Town planningEducation and learning > Research

20: Nature reserves, or

"Special protected areas to keep New Zealand's plants, animals, and natural features safe"

22: Government purpose reserves, or

"Land set aside by the government for important uses like wildlife management and conservation"

Part 3Classification and management of reserves
Classification and purpose of reserves

21Scientific reserves

It is hereby declared that the appropriate provisions of this Act shall have effect, in relation to reserves classified as scientific reserves, for the purpose of protecting and preserving in perpetuity for scientific study, research, education, and the benefit of the country, ecological associations, plant or animal communities, types of soil, geomorphological phenomena, and like matters of special interest.
It is hereby further declared that, having regard to the general purposes specified in subsection (1), every scientific reserve shall be so administered and maintained under the appropriate provisions of this Act that—
except where the Minister otherwise determines, the indigenous flora and fauna shall as far as possible be preserved and the exotic flora and fauna shall as far as possible be exterminated:
for the adequate protection and management of the reserve, the Minister may from time to time, by notice in the Gazette, prohibit access to the whole or any specified part of the reserve, and in that case no person shall enter the reserve or, as the case may be, the part so specified, except under the authority of a permit issued under section 48A or section 59:
where scenic, historic, archaeological, biological, or natural features are present on the reserve, those features shall be managed and protected to the extent compatible with the principal or primary purpose of the reserve:provided that nothing in this paragraph shall authorise the doing of anything with respect to fauna that would contravene any provision of the Wildlife Act 1953 or any regulations or Proclamation or notification under that Act, or the doing of anything with respect to archaeological features in any reserve that would contravene any provision of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014:
to the extent compatible with the principal or primary purpose of the reserve, its value as a soil, water, and forest conservation area shall be maintained:
with the consent of the Minister, the reserve, or any specified part of the reserve, may be manipulated for experimental purposes or to gain further scientific knowledge.

For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), where access to the whole or any specified part of a scientific reserve has been prohibited except under the authority of a permit to enter the reserve or that part of the reserve, the expression enter the reserve or, as the case may be, the part of the reserve so specified shall, where the reserve or that part is an island or comprises most of an island, be deemed to include making any physical contact with the land by a boat; and for this purpose any physical contact with the land shall be deemed to include the attaching (by rope or otherwise) of a boat to the reserve or to a wharf constructed on or partly on the reserve.
For the purposes of subsections (2)(b) and (3), where the foreshore of any scientific reserve which is an island or part of an island does not form part of the reserve which it adjoins, the foreshore shall be deemed to form part of the reserve.

Notes

Section 21(2)(b): amended, on 23 September 1981, by section 3(2) of the Reserves Amendment Act 1981 (1981 No 30).
Section 21(2)(c) proviso: amended, on 20 May 2014, by section 107 of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 (2014 No 26).