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State of the Environment Environment New Zealand 2007 - Summary Online version
Section one: Setting the context
Our environment and people
New Zealand’s geographic isolation and long period without human habitation allowed a unique natural environment to flourish. Our environment is known for the richness of its biodiversity, with more than 80,000 native animal, plant, and fungus species. As a result of New Zealand’s isolation, much of our flora and fauna are not found anywhere else on earth.
Humans are relatively recent additions to the New Zealand environment. The Polynesian ancestors of Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) arrived here about 30 generations ago, with European settlement only occurring in the late 18th century. Today, New Zealand is home to just over 4 million people, with an average age of 36 years.
Most New Zealanders live in urban areas within 50 kilometres of the coast. Three out of four of us live in the North Island. While our overall population density is low, it is high in major urban areas. New Zealand’s demography and the way it is changing have implications for both the way we live our lives, and the impact of our lifestyles on the environment.
New Zealanders’ relationship with the environment is a defining feature of our national identity. We frequently use images of our natural scenery and rural heritage to present New Zealand to the rest of the world. Māori have a particular relationship with the environment as tangata whenua (people of the land).
Increasingly, New Zealanders perceive the environment to be not only our iconic wilderness and rural areas, but also the urban areas where most of us live and work.
New Zealand’s natural environment is fundamental to our economic and social well-being. Our stunning landscapes, forests, and productive agricultural and horticultural land generate a significant part of New Zealand’s wealth. Careful stewardship of our natural landscapes and resources is therefore important: both tourism and our primary production sectors rely on New Zealand’s ‘clean and green’ reputation internationally.
Safeguarding the environment for future generations is becoming increasingly important to New Zealanders. Many of us are taking action to conserve the environment for future generations in ways that protect our economic well-being, social systems, and cultural wealth.
New Zealand is a small island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
Source: Nature's Pic Images.
Geography
New Zealand's land area of about 270,000 km2 is about the same as that of Japan or the United Kingdom. Our location on the boundary of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates has shaped our landforms. The resulting earth movements have produced hilly and mountainous terrain over two-thirds of the land, with frequent earthquakes in most parts of the country and a zone of volcanic and geothermal activity in the central North Island.
New Zealand's terrain, climate, rock type, and vegetation have interacted to produce more than a hundred different soil types. Despite this diversity, our soils are generally low in nutrients because the rocks they come from are geologically young.
Flora and fauna
Among New Zealand's most notable species are the:
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kiwi, which lays one of the largest eggs in the world compared with its body size
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kākāpō, the world’s heaviest and only flightless parrot
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kea, one of the world’s only mountain parrots
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giant wētā, the heaviest insect
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tuatara, a reptile of prehistoric origins
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giant kauri tree, which is among the largest in the world and holds the record for the greatest timber volume of any tree.
Tuatara, New Zealand’s reptile of prehistoric origins.
Source: iStockphoto.
While most of the world’s ferns grow in tropical climates, New Zealand hosts an unusually large number of ferns for a temperate country. Primeval trees, mosses, and lichens continue to flourish here, and flightless, ground-dwelling birds have evolved to fill niches that elsewhere in the world would have been taken by mammals. Indeed, New Zealand’s only endemic land-based mammal is the bat, of which we have several species. By comparison with other countries, we have comparatively few native flowering plants and land-based vertebrate animals.
Climate
New Zealand’s climate is influenced strongly by geographic factors. These include:
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its location in a latitude zone with prevailing westerly winds
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the large area of surrounding ocean
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mountain chains that modify weather systems as they move eastward, so that climatic contrasts are much sharper from west to east than they are from north to south
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tropical weather patterns (that is, storms that start out as tropical cyclones elsewhere can redevelop in the region, bringing warm moisture-laden tropical air that interacts with colder polar air).
As a result of these factors, New Zealand’s weather is more variable than that of larger, continental countries.
Rivers and lakes
Dynamic tectonic movement means New Zealand’s landscape is dominated by mountains: more than three-quarters of our land area is higher than 200 metres above sea level. As a result, steep and fast-flowing stony streams and rivers dissect the landscape.
Rivers also feed numerous lakes, of which 3,820 are more than 1 hectare in area. Most lakes were formed through volcanic or glacial activity, or after the formation of land barriers. Lake Taupō in the North Island is New Zealand’s largest lake, with an area of about 62,000 hectares and a maximum depth of 163 metres.
As well as having numerous mountains, lakes, rivers, and geothermal areas, New Zealand has 360 glaciers in the South Island, which carry away snow and ice from the many peaks of the Southern Alps.
Coasts and oceans
Compared with its land area, New Zealand has one of the longest coastlines of any country in the world, at more than 18,000 kilometres.
New Zealand’s vast marine area contains a diverse range of marine ecosystems, which provide habitats for many species. Scientists have identified almost 16,000 marine species in New Zealand waters, although it is estimated that tens of thousands of species may still be undiscovered.
Environmental reporting
People who make decisions affecting the environment need accurate and reliable environmental information. With this information, they can make informed decisions about natural resource management and set environmental policy. Environmental reporting also helps us know whether policy initiatives or management approaches are effective over time.
Environmental indicators and classification systems
We cannot continuously measure every aspect of our environment so environmental reporting relies on using a range of ‘indicators’ to assess the overall state of the environment in a practical, cost-effective, and meaningful way. In the same way that gross domestic product is an indicator of economic activity, each environmental indicator allows us to measure and report on a specific aspect of the state of the environment. The value of an indicator lies in its ability to show whether things are getting better or worse. Environmental indicators can be used to trigger action to address environmental problems.
New Zealand’s geography is highly variable and its environment can change greatly over relatively short distances. However, geographically remote areas can have similar environmental characteristics (that is, similar climate conditions, landforms, and soils) that support particular ecosystems (habitats and species). These areas are said to be ecologically similar.
Once we have identified and mapped areas that are ecologically similar, we can compare environmental data from these areas. Environmental data from one area can also be used to extrapolate what might be happening in an ecologically similar area for which environmental data is not available. In this way, data from a limited number of monitored sites can be used to build a national picture of the state of the environment.
Environment New Zealand 2007 – the publication on which this summary report is based – uses a set of core national environmental indicators and ecological classification systems to present a national picture of key aspects of the New Zealand environment.
Roadside monitoring by Auckland Regional Council.
Source: Ministry for the Environment.
Collecting and reporting information about the environment
In New Zealand, environmental reporting happens at the national level (for example, in reports such as Environment New Zealand 2007), and at regional and local levels.
National state of the environment reporting in New Zealand relies on partnerships for the collection and sharing of environmental data. Data for the core set of national environmental indicators is collected by central and local government agencies, non-government organisations, and Crown Research Institutes, which are listed as reporting partners in Table 1.2 on page 11.
Local government undertakes a wide range of environmental monitoring to meet its obligations under the Resource Management Act 1991. The scope of environmental monitoring by councils differs around the country. For example, Auckland Regional Council has an extensive marine sediment monitoring programme, reflecting the intensive pressures on the Auckland marine environment. Councils in rural areas that are intensively farmed are likely to focus their monitoring efforts on freshwater quality and quantity, the health of aquatic ecosystems, soil quality and erosion, and sustainable land management.
Right across New Zealand, many iwi, hapū, and community groups are involved in projects to monitor, protect, and enhance the health of their local environment. Local monitoring and reporting play an important role in environmental management: careful tracking of local environments can identify emerging pressures and ensure measures are put in place to manage pressures at an early stage.
Some culturally-based environmental monitoring and reporting is also undertaken in New Zealand. By incorporating traditional knowledge with science-based reporting, the values Māori associate with the environment – in particular, the concept of mahinga kai, or customary food and resource gathering – can be taken into account in environmental decision-making. As an example, conventional environmental monitoring may assess the quality of water for swimming, but it does not identify whether it is safe to gather mahinga kai or drink the water. Moreover, the presence at a site of a particular species, such as tuna (eels), does not mean the species is abundant or healthy enough to harvest.
Greater Wellington Regional Council air quality monitoring station.
Source: Ministry for the Environment.
New Zealand’s core set of national environmental indicators
Environment New Zealand 2007 reports on information provided by a core set of 19 national environmental indicators. The indicators in this core set have been chosen to provide the key information needed for national environmental policy-making and natural resource management. They were also selected for their ability to provide the best representation of the information that is currently available on high-priority issues for the environment. They form a representative sample of indicators, which can be added to over time as further national-level data becomes available.
To help decision-makers use the information from the core environmental indicators in a meaningful way, indicators are often developed within a particular framework or model. The model is used to highlight what type of information the indicator is trying to show, and how this information can best be used.
The Ministry for the Environment has developed the framework for the core set of national environmental indicators from two well-tested analytical models:
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the Driving force – Pressure – State – Impact – Response (DPSIR) model, which was developed from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Pressure – State – Response model
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the typology of indicators developed by the European Environment Agency.
DPSIR indicators aim to address four fundamental questions:
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What is happening to the environment?
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Why is it happening?
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Are the changes significant?
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What is society’s response?
Depending on where an indicator sits in the DPSIR model, we may say, for example, that it is a ‘pressure’ or a ‘state’ indicator. Table 1.1 describes each DPSIR indicator.
Table 1.1: Description of DPSIR indicators
| Indicator type | Description of indicator type |
|---|---|
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Driving force (driver) |
Describes social, demographic, and economic developments. Primary driving forces are population growth and changes in people’s needs and activities. These change lifestyles and overall levels of production and consumption, which in turn exert pressures on the environment. |
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Pressure |
Tracks people’s use of natural resources and land, and production of waste and emissions (for example, greenhouse gases and particulates into the air). These pressures can change environmental conditions. |
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State |
Describes the quantity and quality of the environment and natural resources (for example, water quality, air quality, or land cover). |
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Impact |
Describes the effects that environmental changes have on environmental or human health (for example, the level of human illness related to exposure to air pollution). |
|
Response |
Describes responses by the Government, organisations, or the community to prevent, compensate, ameliorate, or adapt to changes in the environment (for example, the introduction of regulations such as national environmental standards and legislative initiatives to protect native vegetation and biodiversity). |
Source: Adapted from European Environment Agency, 2003.
Table 1.2 shows how New Zealand’s core set of environmental indicators have been classified using the DPSIR framework. Sometimes, an indicator may be classified in more than one way, depending on the information it provides or how we choose to interpret it.
Table 1.2: National environmental indicators used in Environment New Zealand 2007, their position in the DPSIR framework, and relevant reporting partners
