REVIEW OF SOUTH ISLAND HIGH COUNTRY LAND MANAGEMENT ISSUES Joint submission to the Ministerial High Country Review Committee from the New Zealand Ecological Society and the New Zealand Society of Soil Science

New Zealand Journal of Ecology (1994) 18 (1): 69-81 ©New Zealand Ecological Society These two scientific Societies appreciate the opportunity to comment on the important question of sustainable land management for the South Island high country. We recognise that considerable thought has been put into the questions we have been posed. We also recognise that some questions pre-suppose a particular viewpoint with which the scientific community may not agree. For this reason, we wish at the outset to make our position clear. We present this position statement before attempting to answer the questions you have posed to us. Please read this first for two reasons: (a) it provides background which we do not intend to repeat in relation to each question; and (b) we take the questions, or groups of questions, as issues about which we present scientific commentary, but do not repeat the background each time.