The Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (QEII) is a statutory New Zealand organisation independent from Government and managed by a Board of Directors. It was established in 1977 by the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust Act 1977 "to encourage and promote, for the benefit of New Zealand, the provision, protection, preservation and enhancement of open space."
The organisation enables landowners to protect special features on their land through its open space covenants. QEII also owns 28 properties, including Aroha Island, which collectively protect 1,582 hectares of significant habitat. These have mostly been gifted to the Trust. Stewardship of these properties is assisted by local communities and management committees.
Open space is defined in the Act as any area of land or body of water that serves to preserve or to facilitate the preservation of any landscape of aesthetic, cultural, recreational, scenic, scientific, or social interest or value.
The Act enables QEII to:
- negotiate and administer open space covenants (or protection agreements) with landowners,
- acquire and manage land,
- provide financial grants for open space projects,
- advocate open space protection through advice, research and information.
Famous quotes containing the words queen, national and/or trust:
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)
“...I have wanted to believe people could make their dreams come true ... that problems could be solved. However, this is a national illness. As Americans, we believe all problems can be solved, that all questions have answers.”
—Kristin Hunter (b. 1931)
“Morality is always the product of terror; its chains and strait-waistcoats are fashioned by those who dare not trust others, because they dare not trust themselves, to walk in liberty.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)