WELLINGTON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC) is well prepared for a busy summer with more resources to respond to growing domestic and international visitor numbers, said Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage while launching a new visitor behavior campaign on Monday.
The "Visit the Kiwi way -- Look after our place" campaign aims to help all visitors to understand the need to have as little impact as possible on the wild spaces and natural areas, Sage said in a statement.
The campaign encourages people to travel responsibly and do the right thing with practical advice on how to behave in nature in relation to safety, littering, toileting, wildlife interactions, and drone use.
About 3.9 million New Zealanders and 1.4 million overseas tourists visit the country's conservation areas at least once a year, statistics showed.
In addition to enhanced and increased visitor information, DOC will be spending an extra 3.6 million NZ dollars (2.45 million U.S. dollars) this summer to maintain facilities on public conservation land. This includes cleaning toilets, dealing with toilet waste, track maintenance and compliance, Sage said.
The funding will see additional rangers employed around the busiest spots, involved in visitor management while also sharing local heritage and nature-based stories and information with visitors, she said.
In the past three financial years, DOC has invested more than 42.4 million NZ dollars in capital expenditure to improve visitor assets including roads, toilets, car parks, and campsites, the minister said.
The campaign messages include "Give wildlife space," "Never feed our birds - even if they ask!" "Take your litter with you," "Poo in a loo," among others.
