Page 13 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

otherwise damaged. Such a step has been taken in Saudi Arabia

and on Montserrat Island in the Caribbean among others. Of
course the threat of embarrassment inherent in such a

“punishment” is meant to encourage protection.
Needless to say, New Zealand so zealously protects its

environmental treasures that it is not under any threat of losing
World Heritage Status.

These SubAntarctic Islands are so well protected that DOC allows
only 600 tourist visits a year on each one of them. Tour companies

must purchase these “tickets to visit paradise” from DOC, thus
creating a source of income for the Department. Furthermore,

even with the permission granted, visitors must be accompanied
by a representative from DOC to insure that rules and regulations

are followed. The rules cover such things as staying on designated
trails, keeping appropriate distances from all creatures on the
islands, disinfecting boots before stepping onto the island and

when returning to the ship, carrying nothing onto the island such
as food or drink or even backpacks. We were even instructed to

check our clothing before returning to the ship to insure that we
did not bring any “hangers on” back with us—like seeds or leaves

or insects. They were very thorough indeed. Our DOC
representative was a delightful lady but she never relaxed the

rules for us, nor did we ask her to make any concessions.

Before we ever left the ship the first time by zodiac, we were

given an informational brochure covering DOC’s “minimum
impact code” for the SubAntarctic Islands. There were general

rules covering such information as the fact that there are no toilet
facilities on any of these islands, that you cannot collect any

specimens of any kind, and that you cannot leave anything
behind when you leave. Then there were the regulations covering

animal viewing: all animals have the right of way, no approaches
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