Planners and the conservation of biological heritage: Implications for New Zealand and Australia

The aim of this paper is to encourage greater attention by planners to conservation of native or indigenous biodiversity, and to the skills and knowledge required for this endeavour. This paper argues that, in order to be effective, planners need to develop methods and principles of planning that support the long-term survival of native species and ecosystems. To do so, they will need to work with ecologists, biologists, and land managers, and bring new areas of ecological understanding to their traditional skills. They will also have to demonstrate that they have the skills they claim to have. Moreover, since conservation of biodiversity frequently requires the maintenance or restoration of ecological processes a change in the common focus of planning on development approval with limited monitoring or enforcement, is required

The political economy of a productivist agriculture: New Zealand dairy discourses

The New Zealand dairy industry faces political and commercial pressure to improve its environmental performance on the one hand while maintaining economic efficiency and commercial competitiveness in a global marketplace on the other. The growing scale and intensity of dairy production have caused significant cumulative environmental impacts. Productivist constructions of environmental improvement by the industry are an example of ecological modernisation by a large international agri-food organisation in the face of global trade competition and domestic political pressures. This paper explores the productivist constructions of environmental management by the New Zealand dairy industry in the context of global economic competition and notes an alternative response inspired by an ethic of sustainability. It suggests that despite global pressures of economic competition it is possible to incorporate non-material values into farm management provided these are recognised and rewarded

Does practice make perfect? Debate about principles versus practice in New Zealand local government planning

Legislation and practice are two arms of public policy planning. Legislation empowers or enables; practice is the articulation and implementation of legislative principle. In New Zealand there has been widespread debate in recent years about the relative importance of practice versus legislation in achieving planning outcomes under its key planning legislation, the Resource Management Act 1991. This paper proposes that the effectiveness and efficiency of planning practice may depend on a range of factors, some of which are beyond the control of planners, and outside of legislation. They include political priorities and the countervailing administrative responsibilities of the public agencies involved

Protection of native bush by Waikato dairy farmers: A cultural perspective

Protection of native vegetation on private land is particularly important for biodiversity conservation because most of the conservation land in public ownership is 300m or more above sea level. It is thus representative of higher altitude ecosystems. Almost all New Zealand's lower altitude areas are in private ownership. Maintaining current levels of indigenous biodiversity means, in practice, persuading many of the nation's farmers and forest landowners to retain or restore native bush and wetlands on their land

Remnants of the Waikato: native forest survival in a production landscape

This paper addresses the issue of conservation of native biodiversity on privately owned farmland in New Zealand. Based on surveys of Waikato dairy farmers as exemplars of intensive agricultural practice, it examines factors that influence the survival of native forest on land with potential for commercial production. Results suggest that a significant proportion of Waikato dairy farmers regard native forest favourably although the proportion of farmers who actively conserve their native forest is small. Factors that assist the persistence of native forest on dairy farms include personal characteristics of the farmer, past accidents of history which have left forest remnants in place, and physical characteristics of the farm such as topography. While the conservation of native biodiversity within this intensively farmed landscape is strongly influenced by political economy pressures that encourage production, non-utilitarian motives such as aesthetic enjoyment and family heritage can serve to counter the production ethic

Sustainable development and conservation of biological heritage in Australia and New Zealand

The aim of this paper is to encourage greater attention by planners to conservation of native or indigenous biodiversity. It explains what is meant by indigenous, or native, biodiversity and why indigenous biodiversity conservation must become an on-going consideration for Australian and New Zealand planners in future. It outlines some recent national and international policy developments which provide the justification for planning involvement, and discusses some examples of biodiversity provisions in recent plans within New Zealand. It suggests some of the limitations of traditional planning approaches as they relate to biodiversity conservation and explains why planners have an important role to play, particularly in the context of local and regional government. Although the discussion rests heavily on recent experience of planning of biodiversity within New Zealand, the ecological trends within Australia, as well as policies at the federal government level suggest that conservation of biodiversity is as important for planners within Australia as those within New Zealand

The Control, environmental sustainability and information management of Maori land in New Zealand

An increase in Maori land claims and the subsequent settlement of a number of land confiscation grievances have prompted calls for change to the land management, cadastral and legal regimes in New Zealand. There is little expert agreement as to Me shape any such reforms should take, but environmental planners and Maori leaders have conceded the need for an overhaul of current land information management practices. Such reforms must aspire to being legally workable, culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable. Most land in New Zealand is subject to recent legislation (post-1984) which acknowledges concern for Maori cultural values and ancestral rights and environmental sustainability. The existence of this legislation and growing Maori involvement in formulating public policy for the management of land and environmental resources mean that Maori concepts of land management and sustainability are receiving increasing attention and are likely to influence the shape of future cadastral reforms for Maori lands

The conservation of New Zealand’s biological heritage and the role of environmental planners

Species diversity is an important aspect of ecosystem health, and a necessary condition for long-term sustainable development. However, it is widely recognised that species extinction is on the increase, as biological diversity comes under pressure from land-use activity and environmental change. Despite an active official conservation programme, the indigenous biodiversity of New Zealand is under threat