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3 National Environmental Indicators

This section discusses the 22 national environmental indicators and the 68 associated variables reported in Environment New Zealand 2007 (see Table 1 below). These constitute New Zealand’s core set of national environmental indicators and associated variables.

The section does not include any discussion of the additional 50 or so variables reported in Environment New Zealand 2007 which fall outside of the core set. In some cases, it is not possible to report on these variables again (there was only one data point in time), or it is not known whether monitoring data will continue to be collected. In other cases, it is expected that reporting on these variables will occur in the third (2012) national-scale state of the environment report, should data be available.

As data sources improve, it is important to bear in mind that both indicators and variables in the core set may change, as may information sources and reporting partners. Any proposed amendments to the core set will require a formal evaluation against set criteria (see Criteria for selection of Environmental Indicators) which have been developed with reference to both international best practice, and the selection criteria employed in New Zealand for other indicator sets (eg, the Social Indicators).

Table 1: New Zealand’s national environmental indicators and associated variables

Domain	National Environmental Indicator	Variables	Reporting partner
Consumption	Household consumption expenditure	Household consumption expenditure across seven categories: Food and beverages Clothing and footwear Housing Household goods and services Transport Hotels and restaurants Other goods and services	StatsNZ
Transport	Vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT)	Vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) by road: By fuel type (petrol or diesel) By vehicle age By vehicle type	MoT
Energy	Energy supply	Total primary energy supply (by fuel type) Electricity generation (by fuel type)	MED
Energy	Energy demand	Total consumer energy demand (by fuel type and by sector) Consumer energy demand compared to gross domestic product	MED
Waste	Solid waste disposal	The quantity (by weight) of solid waste disposed of to landfill The composition of solid waste disposed of to landfill	Regional councils, territorial authorities
Air	Air quality	Concentrations of the following pollutants in managed airsheds: PM₁₀ nitrogen dioxide carbon monoxide sulphur dioxide ground-level ozone.	Regional councils
Atmosphere	Greenhouse gases	Emissions of: carbon dioxide methane nitrous oxide sulphur hexafluoride hydrofluorocarbons perfluorocarbons. Greenhouse gas emissions removed from the atmosphere as a result of absorption by forestry	MED, MoT
Atmosphere	Stratospheric ozone	Average yearly ozone levels over New Zealand	NIWA
Land	Land cover	Land cover across nine land-cover classes: exotic forest exotic shrubland native forest native vegetation other native land cover primarily horticulture high-producing exotic grassland low producing grassland artificial surfaces.	DoC, MAF, regional councils
Land	Land use	Land use by 18 land-use classes and four land-cover classes: dairy intensive sheep and beef hill-country sheep and beef high-country sheep and beef deer other animals ungrazed urban planted forest arable crops vegetables berryfruit pipfruit grapes summer fruit tropical fruit kiwifruit flowers tussock native forest rivers, lakes, snow, and ice scrub.	DoC, MAF, regional councils
	Soil health	Soil health as detailed below: total carbon content total nitrogen content pH in water olsen phosphate mineralisable nitrogen macroporosity. Across seven major land-use categories: arable cropping mixed cropping drystock pasture dairy pasture tussock grasslands exotic forestry native forests.	Regional councils, MAF, CRIs
	Erosion risk	Hill country pasture at risk of erosion, by three categories of erosion potential: severe very severe extreme	Regional councils, MAF, CRIs
Fresh water	River water quality	Concentrations/measurements of: nutrients (total and dissolved concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus) e. coli visual clarity water temperature dissolved oxygen macroinvertebrate richness in rivers (MCI and/or %EPT	Regional councils, NIWA
	Lake water quality	Trophic Level Index (TLI): total nitrogen total phosphorus visual clarity algal biomass	Regional councils, NIWA
	Groundwater quality	Concentrations of: nitrate e. coli	Regional councils, GNS
	Recreational water quality	Concentrations of: e. coli	Local authorities
	Freshwater demand	The volumes of water allocated to consumptive uses	Regional councils, NIWA
Oceans	Marine protected areas	The proportion of New Zealand’s territorial sea in marine reserve The proportion of each class of the Coastal Biogeographic Regions Classification protected by marine reserve	DoC
	Fisheries activity	Fish stocks under the Quota Management System: total commercial catch (by weight) from fish caught both inside and outside of the Quota Management System the status of assessed fish stocks under the Quota Management System.	MFish
	Fisheries activity	Seabed trawling in deep waters: the area ‘swept’ by commercial trawlers required to report position by latitude and longitude the types of fish expected to be found in areas that have been swept.	MFish
	Recreational water quality	Concentrations of Enterococci bacteria levels at coastal swimming spots	Regional councils, territorial authorities
Biodiversity	Native land cover	Area of native land cover by Land Cover Database (LCDB) class Area of native land cover by Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) class Area of native land cover under legal protection	DoC, QEII, regional councils, territorial authorities
Biodiversity	Indicator species	Distribution of selected native indicator species: Kiwi Lesser short-tailed bat Kaka Kokako Yellowhead/mohua Wrybill Dactylanthus	DoC, OSNZ

Source: Ministry for the Environment.

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