The head of New Zealand's tourism industry association is asking for the Department of Conservation to get more funding after it was revealed that more than 60 percent of tracks on New Zealand's Great Walks are not up to the department's own standards.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said it could be put down to the fact that DOC was under-funded.

"At the end of the day there's a core responsibility lying with the Government to give DOC sufficient funds to actually do its job properly."

If DOC wasn't funded properly in time the conservation estate would run down, he argued.

"That's going to be bad for protecting our species. It's also going to be bad for catering for New Zealanders and visitors alike who want to experience the conservation estate."