The Public Pulse of Conservation is a survey of Aotearoa New Zealand residents conducted by the Department of Conservation. The survey is administered on behalf of the department by Ipsos, and captures 1,000 responses every month. The results from each monthly survey ‘wave’ are normally published by the end of the month in which they are collected.

Ipsos collates a monthly topline report summarising the findings from the survey. The report for the February 2023 wave, surveying activity from the previous month - January 2023, is available below.

• Monthly Topline Report – February 2023 - Department of Conservation

Key findings for February 2023

• Visits to Protected Heritage Places have significantly increased over the January period. This has occurred alongside an increase in average visits to Protected Heritage Places compared to November and December activity.
• There has been a significant increase in the number of people doing day walks and hikes at Protected Natural Areas in the past month compared to the December period. This is expected for the holiday period.
• Satisfaction with the overall experience at Protected Natural Areas has significantly increased this month with more visitors rating their experience as ‘exceptionally good’. This aligns with a large increase in Protected Natural Areas NPS which is now at its highest level since December 2021.
• When it comes to personal experience at Protected Natural Areas, more people said they would be happy to visit again, their visit was worth the time/effort/expense and their visit provided all the benefits they expected.
• While Protected Natural Area visitors are satisfied, locals/regular visitors to Protected Natural Areas are showing growing negative sentiment.
• Protected Heritage Places’ NPS remains stable compared to last month but remains much lower than for the 12 months preceding the substantial decline that began in September – the large and ongoing nature of this drop in NPS deserves attention.

The Sustainable Tourism Explorer will soon be updated with measures from the Public Pulse of Conservation survey, and a data release page will be developed to surface key data for you to interact and download for your own insights.