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2 Context
The Ministry for the Environment reports to the Government and the community on the health of New Zealand’s environment.
A 2006 directive from Cabinet gave the Ministry formal responsibility for a national environmental reporting programme.
The Ministry’s programme has four parts:
- reporting on the state of New Zealand’s environment
- developing tools and guidelines to encourage consistent, high-quality and comprehensive monitoring of New Zealand’s environment
- working in partnership with those who do the monitoring
- carrying out surveys and monitoring when other data sources are not available.
This document describes the Ministry’s work to deliver number (1) – reporting on the state of New Zealand’s environment. To do this, the Ministry works in partnership with those who do the on-the-ground monitoring (3); helps develop the tools and guidelines to ensure the information gathered is robust, consistent and able to draw a national picture (2); and carries out national surveys and other environmental monitoring from time to time when other data sources are not available (4).
The national environmental reporting programme is fundamental to the Ministry’s work, particularly setting environmental policy. This is reinforced in its Statement of Intent 2008–2011 (page 32):
... In all of its policy work, the Ministry requires facts-based research, information and analysis to develop an evidence base for making good decisions. Reporting on the state of New Zealand’s environment is essential for the Ministry to deliver on its shorter-term outcomes.
