Department of Conservation (DOC) director general Lou Sanson has resigned after eight years in the role.

Lou started working on conservation in Westland Tai Poutini National Park, first as a track cutter in the Copland Valley in 1971, then as an environmental forester with the New Zealand Forest Service at the Forest Research Institute. From 1987 he helped set up DOC as Invercargill’s first district conservator then moved to head up Antarctica New Zealand in 2002, before returning to DOC in September 2013 as director-general.

“Lou’s leaving DOC in September when his term comes to an end. This is after his contract was already extended by two years after he served two terms of three years, which is standard for New Zealand government chief executives,” a DOC spokesperson told the Wanaka App.

He told staff he was particularly proud of the work to establish Rakiura National Park and the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands World Heritage Area as Southland Conservator from 1996 to 2002.

He also noted how DOC has “shifted its relationships with whānau, hapū and iwi around Aotearoa modelled on DOC’s Te Kaupapa”, and celebrated the securing of increased funding for conservation, including the $500M Jobs for Nature fund: “a huge amount of money that will lead to conservation outcomes we could only previously have dreamed of”.

Lou said he will be looking for other opportunities including environmental and social governance, as well as volunteering.

PHOTO: Supplied