Environment New Zealand 2007 questions and answers - Environmental reporting

How can you measure the state of our environment?

We use environmental indicators (measures) of environmental health to assess the overall well-being of our environment, as well as 80 variables (which are parts of the environment that can be measured).
For example, water quality is an environmental indicator. To assess water quality, a number of variables (such as visual clarity, sedimentation and levels of nitrates and phosphates) are measured.
Other supporting environmental information is also used to provide contextual information which can sit alongside indicator information to help identify relevant current or emerging environmental issues over time.
The report also makes use of ecological classification systems which enable data from monitored sites to be extrapolated and mapped across the country in order to get a national picture of our environment.

Many different organisations and groups are involved in developing environmental indicators, data collection and reporting. In particular, local government undertakes a wide range of environmental monitoring to meet its obligations under the Resource Management Act.
Iwi, hapu and community groups also participate in projects to monitor, protect and enhance the health of their local environment.

The indicators were selected from a wider set of 160 indicators developed by the Ministry for the Environment and consulted on under the earlier Environmental Performance Indicators Programme (1996-2002).
The indicators were developed using well-tested international models and frameworks. They have also been reviewed by experts outside the Ministry for the Environment.
It is important that the core indicators remain consistent in terms of the variables measured so that trend information becomes available. For some topics, eg, freshwater quality, 15 years of data is needed before trends can be identified.

The 2007 report is also a national-level state of the environment report.
However, the two reports differ in some ways:
- Environment New Zealand 2007 capitalises on significant advances in environmental monitoring, data collection and data reporting now available, to provide a more quantitative picture of our environment, based on hard data.
- The 2007 report uses ecological classification systems to analyse and interpret the data.
- The analysis of trends and influences on the environment in the 1997 report is still valid today. Therefore this has not been repeated in the 2007 report.

Environment New Zealand 2007 uses a core set of environmental indicators to provide a quantitative picture of specific aspects of the environment and to track trends over time. It meets international best practice of state of the environment reporting.
While there may be some differences in the variables measured, New Zealand's indicators are compatible with those used by the OECD and other international agencies for international environmental reporting.
What sets Environment New Zealand 2007 apart is our development and use of national ecological classification systems. These classifications are unique to New Zealand. They allow us to map what is happening in our environment.
The report uses state-of-the-art mapping technology that has produced award-winning maps.

Under the Resource Management Act, regional councils are responsible for monitoring and reporting the state of their environment every five years.
In addition, some national monitoring of the environment does occur and central government contributes to the cost of this. For example, a national river water quality monitoring network covers 77 sites across the country.
However, it would very costly and inefficient to duplicate the work of regional councils by setting up an additional nationwide monitoring network.

Environment New Zealand 2007