Appendix 6: Ministry for the Environment's Environmental Performance Indicator Programme
This appendix provides important information about the Ministry for the Environment's Environmental Performance Indicator programme and its relationship with Stage 1 of the CHI project.
A brief overview of the following topics is provided:
- the relationship of the CHI project to the Ministry for the Environment's Environmental Performance Indicator Programme
- the concerns of Māori with respect to the EPI Programme
- the concerns of Ngāi Tahu that led to the initiation of a freshwater indicators project in 1997/98.
1. Background to the EPI programme
The Environment 2010 strategy detailed a set of national environmental goals that were adopted by the Government in 1994. Goals and proposed actions for nine priority issues represent the environmental outcomes sought from the implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991. The purpose of the Ministry for the Environment's EPI Programme was to develop a core set of environmental performance indicators that would allow progress towards the key goals of Environment 2010 to be tracked over time. Specifically, the Ministry contended that the EPI Programme would enable resource managers to assess:
- the state of the environment at national, regional and local levels
- the impact of human activities on the environment
- emerging trends
- the effectiveness of key legislation and policy, such as the Resource Management Act 1991, Environment 2010, New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement and the statutory plans and policies of regional and district councils.
The Ministry for the Environment led the Environmental Performance Indicators Programme which, although now ended, resulted in indicators being developed for air, the marine environment, freshwater, terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity, energy and transport resources.
Environmental performance indicators have the potential to be crucial to resource management, but the framework initially adopted by the Ministry threatened to reduce ecosystems to simplistic sets of natural resource components (eg air, freshwater, land, plants). Considerations fundamental to Māori, such as interactions within ecosystems, were not well accommodated (Crengle, 1997). This represented a weakness in the overall indicators framework. Direction from Māori was needed to show how they might be directly involved in the development of EPIs. Four Māori case studies were supported, to test the efficacy of Māori participation in the formulation of EPIs, one being the Taieri Indicator Project and the development of the Cultural Health Index. [The Taieri River project commenced in 1997/98 with the identification of indicators to assess stream health.]
2. Background to the identification of freshwater indicators and the development of the Cultural Health Index
The project was initially developed in response to a number of concerns about freshwater management voiced by members of Ngāi Tahu whanui. Numerous catchments within the rohe of Ngāi Tahu experience both deteriorating water quality and mounting pressures on the quantity of water available to meet the needs of both in-stream and extractive uses. Ngāi Tahu contend that these issues need to be addressed by resource managers because they are adversely impacting on the cultural association of Ngāi Tahu with the affected freshwater resources. [Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, 1999,Freshwater Policy Statement,Kai Tahu Ki Otago, 1996, Natural Resource Management Plan.]
Water quality remains a concern throughout the rohe as there are still examples of point source water pollution caused by the discharge of effluent from sewage plants. Despite treatment and few apparent biological adverse effects, these discharges have significant adverse cultural effects that are not fully acknowledged. Of yet greater concern, however, particularly given the increase in dairying in the South Island, is the poor water quality resulting from non-point sources of pollution.
With respect to water quantity, Ngāi Tahu have argued strongly in resource management fora that cultural values have been accorded lower priority in decisions relating to the allocation of water than have extractive uses. Observable adverse impacts on cultural and spiritual values include low flows, loss of in-stream habitats, changes to estuarine areas and the related issues of salt water intrusion, unnatural dewatering of significant sites, reduced flushing and flood flows and changes to sediment movement and deposition patterns. [Evidence submitted in support of the Ngāi Tahu claim before the Waitangi Tribunal documented many examples of modifications to waterways and the resultant adverse impacts on Ngāi Tahu whanui.] The issue of inadequate minimum flows and excessive extractions are concerns that are shared by papatipu rūnanga [Papatipu rūnanga within the rohe of Ngāi Tahu are listed in Schedule of the Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Act 1996.] within the Canterbury, Otago and Southland regions, and are in evidence in the plans and policies of the three regional councils covering these parts of the South Island. [The three regional councils being Environment Canterbury, Otago Regional Council and Environment Southland.] The Taieri River project and the identification of indicators had its origins in the minimum flow debates - when it became apparent that Ngāi Tahu would continue to struggle to have their perspective recognised by the Otago Regional Council through the existing management approach.
The Ministry for the Environment's report, Environmental Performance Indicators, Proposals for Air, Fresh Water and Land (1997), reinforced these concerns by confirming that the focus of many of the water quantity monitoring regimes within New Zealand was the extent of extractions and how the level of extraction relates to the maximum sustainable yield. A concern, expressed on page 64 of the Ministry's report, is the statement that spiritual issues, such as mauri, were not being addressed in the monitoring activities of regional councils. This served to reinforce the concerns of Māori who, in struggling to be heard in resource management fora, were faced with individuals within resource management agencies who did not fully appreciate Māori cultural and spiritual values in respect of freshwater.
Despite observing and voicing concerns about the poor health of freshwater resources within their rohe, the ability of Ngāi Tahu to influence freshwater management has thus far been limited as their role has been largely confined to one of advocacy. Māori have been consulted by resource management agencies as statutory plans and policies are formulated, but they have not been accorded the status of equal participants in decision-making fora. One of the outcomes sought by the project was a change in the nature of participation by Ngāi Tahu in freshwater management within the Otago region.
The project was thus narrowly defined. Its initial focus was freshwater issues in the Taieri Catchment, specifically the previous lack of attention to the incorporation of Māori values in their management. It therefore sought to address what was perceived to be a shortcoming in the Ministry's EPI programme and the regional council's proposed approach to the monitoring of freshwater resources by determining how Māori would go about assessing the health and wellbeing of these resources - should they become involved in data collection and monitoring.
3. Going forward: regional council monitoring
Although the Ministry for the Environment's Environmental Performance Indicator Programme has ended, a rising consciousness and concern with the health of the environment has prompted the preparation of state of the environment reports that document the condition of resources and the wider environment. Within the New Zealand context, section 35 of the Resource Management Act 1991 requires environmental monitoring by local authorities in order for them to carry out their functions under the Act. At least every five years local authorities must report to the public on their monitoring of the effectiveness of their policies and plans. This is most commonly done by producing a state of the environment report or an annual environmental monitoring summary.
In 1997, the Ministry for the Environment provided a national overview of the environment through a State of the Environment Report. At a regional and district government level, a range of reports present more detailed local perspectives on the state of the environment. As well as informing the public of the environmental problems that are being experienced, these reports also establish baselines for long-term monitoring programmes. Linked closely to the establishment of long-term monitoring programmes was the formulation of environment performance indicators that, if adopted by resource management agencies, could ensure a consistent approach to monitoring and assessment. What can be at issue, however, is the means by which the state of the environment is assessed and monitored. We believe the opportunity afforded by the Ministry for the Environment's EPI Programme enabled the development of a tool, the Cultural Health Index (CHI) for rivers and streams, which will facilitate the participation of iwi in resource management processes, specifically the management of streams and rivers.
