Indigenous biodiversity
Abstract
This guidance note on indigenous biodiversity is primarily targeted at those involved in the preparation and implementation of Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) policy statements and plans. It provides an overview of relevant biodiversity matters including concepts, management, protection and restoration.
The guidance note contains a comprehensive analysis of a large number of methods that councils can use to address their responsibilities for indigenous biodiversity. These include: regulatory provisions; non-regulatory tools; economic instruments; the management of council lands; and the implementation of other council functions. While this note outlines the requirement to monitor the policy outcomes it does not describe how to undertake this monitoring.
Guidance note
What is biodiversity?
Introduction
The Convention on Biological Diversity and associated New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy define biological diversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems”. Section 2 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) provides a simplified and similar definition, as follows: “the variability among living organisms, and the ecological complexes of which they are a part, including diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems”.
Components of biological diversity include:
- genetic diversity: the variability in the genetic makeup among individuals within a single species
- species diversity: the variety of species – whether wild or domesticated – within a particular geographical area
- ecological (ecosystem) diversity: the variety of ecosystem types (eg, forests, grasslands, streams, lakes, wetlands and oceans) and their biological communities that interact with one another and their non-living environments. This includes the manner in which the ecosystem functions, which in turn is directly linked to its diversity.
Biological diversity is often shortened to biodiversity, and it is this common terminology that is used in this guidance note. Biodiversity is sometimes interpreted narrowly as a synonym for species richness based on the total number of species present. This interpretation is not consistent with the definitions in the Convention on Biological Diversity, the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy or the RMA.
A variety of scientific disciplines study different aspects of biodiversity. These disciplines include ecology, population biology, taxonomy and genetics. A scientist may specialise in particular environments (eg, lakes, estuaries, wetlands, forests, scrub) and/or particular groups of biota (eg, vascular plants, insects, freshwater or marine fish, seabirds). Ecologists study the interaction between organisms and their environments.
What is indigenous, endemic and introduced biodiversity?
An indigenous or native species is one that occurs naturally in New Zealand. That is, they have evolved or arrived here without any assistance from humans. Indigenous species include migratory species that travel to or from New Zealand or to or from other parts of the world, to either breed or feed. Some indigenous species occur naturally in other countries (eg, pukeko also occur naturally in Australia).
An endemic species is an indigenous species that breeds exclusively in a specific country or locality. Endemic New Zealand species are of high conservation importance as they are unique to our country and the survival of natural populations can only be ensured in New Zealand.
An introduced species (also known as exotic, adventive or alien species) is one that has been brought to New Zealand by humans, either by accident or intent. Naturalised or acclimatised species are introduced species that breed in the wild and are able to maintain populations in competition with New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity. Invasive species are introduced species that are considered pests because they negatively affect biodiversity or other values. Cultivated species are those maintained in gardens, horticulture and agriculture.
Why is indigenous biodiversity important and vulnerable?
Ecological values
New Zealand is one of 34 priority global terrestrial biodiversity hotspots. Biodiversity hotspots are defined quantitatively as those areas where:
- there are more than 1500 species (greater than 0.5 per cent of the world total) of endemic vascular plants
- at least 70 per cent of the original habitat has been lost.
Biodiversity hotspots hold especially high numbers of endemic species, yet their combined area of remaining habitat covers only 2.3 per cent of the Earth’s land surface. Each hotspot faces extreme threats and has already lost at least 70 per cent of its original natural vegetation.
New Zealand has an extraordinary number of endemic species. As the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy points out, this is a result of a long period of isolated evolution and the diversity of New Zealand’s landscapes and seascapes. All three species of New Zealand bat are endemic, as are all four frogs, all 60 reptiles, more than 90 per cent of insects and a similar percentage of marine molluscs, about 80 per cent of vascular plants, 87 per cent of terrestrial birds and 44 per cent of all breeding seabirds.
This level of endemism is remarkable internationally. By comparison, Great Britain, which separated from continental Europe only 10,000 years ago, has only two endemic species – one plant and one animal.
Many New Zealand animal species are endemic at taxonomic levels above that of genus or species. This means that, internationally, they are highly distinctive. For example, there are two orders of birds (one containing 10 extinct species of moa and one containing five kiwi species) and one order of reptiles (containing two species of tuatara) that are found only in New Zealand.
The uniqueness of much of New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity means that responsibility for its continued existence is entirely ours. It cannot be conserved in nature anywhere else in the world.
New Zealand’s long geographic isolation from other land masses has meant that indigenous species have evolved without terrestrial mammalian species (with the exception of bats). The introduction of mammalian predators and competitors by people has contributed to the extinction of many species and numerous others becoming threatened. Non-mammalian animal pests, such as koi carp and magpies, and thousands of introduced plants also threaten native flora and fauna.
New Zealand’s biodiversity is also vulnerable because of habitat destruction and invasive introduced species. Habitats continue to be destroyed through vegetation clearance, wetland drainage, seabed dredging, dam construction and other habitat degradation.
Potential climate change impacts on indigenous biodiversity
In the future, it is very likely that these existing threats to biodiversity will be exacerbated by the impacts of climate change.
Climate change is projected to affect individual organisms, populations, species distributions and ecosystem composition and function both directly (eg, through increases in temperature and changes in precipitation regimes) and indirectly (eg, through changes in distributions of both native and introduced invasive species).
District and regional councils need to work together to respond to climate change. See the Climate change guidance note for more information.
National, regional and local identity
Many of the New Zealand national emblems are based on our indigenous biological world – such as the koru, silver fern and kiwi. New Zealanders are known around the world as ‘kiwis’.
New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity is an integral aspect of the Māori world view, and Māori have special roles and responsibilities as ‘kaitiaki’(guardians). At the local and regional level, New Zealanders often have a strong bond with the landscapes and ecosystems of their region and local area.
Ecosystem services
Indigenous biodiversity provides a variety of often unrecognised ecosystem services. These services, which can be provided directly or indirectly, include:
- regulation of atmospheric carbon levels and temperature, including sequestration of atmospheric carbon by growing forests
- the retention of soil by catchment vegetation, thereby reducing erosion and downstream sedimentation
- catchment vegetation and wetland moderation of run-off peaks (potentially flooding) and the provision of more consistent water flows in dry conditions
- wetland sediment trapping
- nutrient filtering by riparian and wetland vegetation to improve downstream water quality
- waste decomposition and nutrient recycling
- habitat for native species and ‘taonga’ (treasures)
- provision of resources for medicinal use (traditional and western medicine)
- provision of resources for cultural use
- provision of food (eg, fish, honey) and resources for commercial use
- providing the backdrop and essence of much of New Zealand’s tourism industry
- opportunities for recreational activities
- natural character, aesthetic values and sense of place.
The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy describes the provision of ecosystem services. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (PDF 4.9MB) published Building Biodiversity Business in 2008, which provides a comprehensive overview of ecosystem services from a business perspective. Information on carbon sequestration in different land covers is available from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
New Zealand’s ecosystems
Introduction
New Zealand has a great diversity of ecosystems for its land area. Most indigenous terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems are unique to New Zealand although some are structurally similar to ecosystems found in land masses that were once part of the ancient southern continent, ‘Gondwanaland’.
Unique ecosystems include:
- mature kauri forests
- kahikatea swamp forests
- pohutukawa forests
- tall tussock grasslands
- multi-tiered subtropical podocarp/mixed broadleaved rain forests
- mature red beech forests
- scrub dominated by divaricating species
- Fiordland marine ecosystems
- marine environments of the northern offshore islands
- certain seamounts
- geothermal seep ecosystems.
New Zealand ecosystem types
The following are general descriptions of selected ecosystem types in New Zealand:
- wetlands
- riparian
- dunelands
- forests
- shrublands and scrub
- lowland grasslands
- alpine and mountain
- rare ecosystems.
Councils should obtain a better understanding of the specific ecosystems within their boundaries.
New Zealand vegetation classification: The mostly widely used system is the Atkinson system for New Zealand terrestrial vegetation classification.
Biodiversity protection and threat issues for councils
There are a number of threat issues to biodiversity that councils need to consider, which can be categorised as:
- general/ecosystem wide
- terrestrial
- aquatic
- planning.
Indigenous biodiversity and the Resource Management Act 1991
Section 2 of the RMA provides a definition of ‘biological diversity’.
The ‘maintenance’ of indigenous biological diversity by councils is to be undertaken in the context of ss5 to 8 of the RMA. These sectionsuse the terms ‘safeguarding the life supporting capacity’ (of ecosystems); ‘preservation’ (of natural character of the coastal environment, wetlands, rivers, lakes and their margins); and ‘protection’ (of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna). These s5, 6 and 7 matters contribute to the interpretation of the term ‘maintenance of indigenous biological diversity’. Maintenance can include protection, enhancement and restoration. Section 8 requires councils to take account of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi when making plans and any other RMA decisions.
Part 2 of the RMA requires particular regard be given to the effects of climate change (s7(i)). This means that councils have both social and legal obligations to take climate change effects into account in their community planning. Therefore long-term planning functions need to embrace expected long-term shifts and changes in climate extremes and patterns to ensure future generations are adequately prepared for future climate conditions.
The RMA provides a number of mechanisms that can be used by the Crown, and primarily local authorities, to assist with the maintenance of biodiversity. These mechanisms include national policy statements (including the mandatory New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 1994), regional policy statements, regional plans and district plans.
Special instruments that fit into this planning framework include water conservation orders, heritage orders, designations, esplanade reserves and strips, and water quality class assignments.
Roles and responsibilities for indigenous biodiversity
Local authority primary roles and responsibilities affecting indigenous biodiversity
RMA
Under s30 of the RMA, regional councils have the function of controlling the use of land for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing ecosystems in water bodies and coastal water. They are also responsible for objectives, policies and methods for maintaining biological diversity.
Under s31 of the RMA, territorial authorities are responsible for controlling the effects of the use, development, or protection of land, including for the purpose of maintaining indigenous biological diversity.
Section 62(1)(i)(iii) of the RMA requires a regional policy statement to state the local authority responsible, in the whole or any part of the region, for specifying the objectives, policies and methods for the control of the use of land to maintain indigenous biodiversity. This is an important matter that requires discussion and negotiation between a regional council and its respective territorial local authorities. This discussion should result in a clear allocation of roles and unambiguous accountabilities in the context that territorial authorities are required to give effect to regional policy statements through their district plans (s75(3)(c)).
When developing regional policy statements, regional councils are to have regard to conservation management strategies and plans prepared by the Department of Conservation.
The role of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement
The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 1994 (and proposed 2008 document) provides guidance on national priorities for biodiversity in the coastal environment. Policies and priorities addressing national biodiversity contained in the 1994 Policy Statement include:
- avoiding adverse effects on areas important to the continued survival of any indigenous species and areas containing nationally vulnerable species or outstanding examples of indigenous community types
- avoiding or remedying adverse effects on areas containing outstanding or rare indigenous community types, habitats important for endangered or rare species, and areas important to migratory species
- protecting ecosystems that are unique to the coastal environment and vulnerable to modification
- preserving coastal ecosystem processes and intrinsic values.
Local Government Act 2002
One of the two purposes of local government specified in s10 of the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) is:
“To promote the social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being of communities, in present and the future.”
Section 14 sets out a series of principles. Section 14(h) specifies that, in taking a sustainable development approach, local authorities shall take into account three matters including:
“…
(ii) the need to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment; and
(iii) the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations”.
The LGA specifies community planning processes through long-term council community plans and annual plans. These plans deliver the non-regulatory components of indigenous biodiversity maintenance (and enhancement), primarily through the allocation of resources to programmes and protection and enhancement initiatives, as well as self-imposed constraints on councils’ own potentially damaging activities.
Under the LGA, regional councils can acquire land for regional parks. Using s139(2), the Governor-General may declare all or part of a park to be protected in perpetuity from disposition.
Other statutes
There are a number of other relevant statutes that provide primary functions for and powers to councils that affect biodiversity. These are summarised in ‘Integrated Management’.
Central government roles and responsibilities for indigenous biodiversity
The Ministers of Conservation and Environment have functions under the RMA in ss28 and 24 respectively. The Department of Conservation has the primary responsibility for biodiversity protection under a number of statutes.
The Ministry of Fisheries administers the Fisheries Act 1996, which has the purpose of utilising fisheries resources while ensuring sustainability. Under s9:
“…all persons exercising or performing functions, duties or powers under this Act, in relation to the utilisation of fisheries resources…shall take into account the following environmental principles:
- associated or dependent species should be maintained above a level that insures their long-term viability:
- biological diversity of the aquatic environment should be maintained:
- habitat of particular significance for fisheries management should be protected”.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry administers the Forests Act 1949. Under this Act, the felling of indigenous trees for timber requires a registered sustainable forest management plan or permit and harvest is to be in accord with an annual logging plan. The Act does not control the felling of indigenous vegetation for any purpose other than milling (eg, land clearance for agriculture or plantation forestry) and therefore cannot be relied upon to protect indigenous forests.
Other organisations with roles and responsibilities for indigenous biodiversity
The Queen Elizabeth II National Trust promotes and facilitates the preservation and enhancement of open space under the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust Act 1977. This includes negotiating covenants on private land and acquiring open space land in its own account. These powers can be used to protect land when granting resource consents.
The following organisations have statutory roles and responsibilities for indigenous biodiversity protection, maintenance and restoration:
- New Zealand Conservation Authority and conservation boards
- Guardians of Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau
- regional fish and game councils, which maintain and enhance populations of indigenous game birds and their habitats
- Guardians of Lake Wanaka.
There are also a large number of non-statutory organisations and community groups undertaking biodiversity protection and management roles. Some of these national organisations and their primary activities are listed in table 3 ‘Selection of National Organisations that are not Established by Statute’.
For information on relationships refer to the following link: ‘relationships with landowners, Māori and the community’.
Property rights and duties for biodiversity
The Crown has a number of legislative responsibilities for biodiversity that impact on land ownership. This means that rights associated with fee simple titles and pastoral leases are subject to various limitations and duties of care, particularly s17 of the RMA, which places a duty on landowners to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects on the environment.
Responding to and meeting the above challenges and obligations requires, amongst other things, that natural and physical resources, including biota and their habitats, be managed in an integrated manner.
Integrated Management
Achieving integrated management can pose special challenges in relation to biodiversity. This is because of the high level of interconnectedness between ecosystems and the often delayed or long-distance impacts of the use or development of resources. An example is the recent degradation of the water quality and habitats of Lake Taupo.
Integrated management also implies coordinating the planning and management processes under the different legislation that applies to a particular resource. For councils addressing biodiversity, this would include the RMA, Reserves Act 1977, Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941, Biosecurity Act 1993, Local Government Act 2002 and Local Government Act 1974. For a more integrated approach, councils also need to consider planning and management under statutes administered by other (primarily Crown) agencies (eg, the Conservation Act 1987, Fisheries Act 1996 and Wildlife Act 1953).
Describing and evaluating biodiversity values
Ecological characterisation and assessment
Ecological characterisation and assessment are undertaken for a variety of purposes and at a variety of scales. A characterisation or description identifies the key species, communities and ecological processes present and should include pertinent attributes of the non-biotic environment.
Ecological assessments
An ecological assessment includes an evaluation of the relative ecological importance of the area and typically identifies threats and management requirements. The evaluation of relative importance typically occurs within the context of one of several spatial frameworks for terrestrial and aquatic environments.
There are a number of reasons that councils assess the ecological value of natural areas, which include:
- providing information to assist a council to develop RMA plans and other methods and/or a strategy for promoting the maintenance of indigenous biodiversity (eg, developing schedules of significant areas of indigenous vegetation and/or significant habitat for indigenous fauna)
- assessing of environmental effects of regulated activities
- prioritising proactive management (eg, pest control, funding for plants and fencing)
- developing monitoring programmes
- acquiring and managing reserves.
Ecological assessments tend to adopt similar methodologies, but there are variations in the detail of information gathered depending upon the purpose of the assessment and the resources available to undertake it.
For more information on ecological assessments, see:
- district scale ecological assessment
- site scale ecological assessment
- existing large scale data sets which may be used in ecological assessments (including cautions)
- limitations of ecological surveys.
Evaluating significance under section 6(c) of the RMA
Section 6(c) of the RMA requires all those exercising functions and powers under the Act to recognise and provide for “the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna”, including on private land.
A variety of criteria sets have been developed for assessing significance under s6(c). The types of format have usually been one or more of:
- open-ended criteria
- standards to be met
- factor headings
- use of filter criteria (note filter criteria should be used with caution).
Criteria sets typically include various combinations of the following elements:
- representativeness
- rarity and distinctive features
- naturalness
- ecological context
- diversity of ecological units and patterns
- size and shape
- ecological viability
- sites previously assessed and identified as being of ecological value
- particular threatened habitat types
- migratory species passage
- indigenous cover in land environments
- non-ecological matters.
Refer to link ‘Evaluating significance under section 6(c) of the Resource Management Act 1991’ for more specific information on each of the above elements.
When criteria sets for evaluating ecological significance under s6(c) are being prepared the following should be addressed.
- A council needs to decide between ‘standards’ based criteria and those that form a general list of matters to consider.
- Criteria should be able to be assessed objectively, as this provides a transparent and repeatable assessment process.
- A council needs to identify how many criteria need to be ‘met’ for a natural area to be considered ecologically significant.
- A sustainability or viability filter should not be part of a significance assessment, but may be considered in setting conditions on consents or prioritising areas for management.
- The criteria should encompass a wide range of important ecological attributes.
A criteria set should be developed in association with an ecologist and preferably also with local communities.
See setting criteria for assessing ecological significance for more information.
The role of the Statement of Priorities for Protecting Rare and Threatened Indigenous Biodiversity on Private Land
The Statement of National Priorities for Protecting Rare and Threatened Indigenous Biodiversity on Private Land (April 2007) (PDF 1.39MB) issued by the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Conservation is intended to inform councils in exercising their biodiversity responsibilities under the RMA. The statement identifies four priorities.
- Protect indigenous vegetation associated with land environments (defined at Level IV) with less than 20 per cent remaining in indigenous cover.
- Protect indigenous vegetation associated with sand dunes and wetlands.
- Protect indigenous vegetation associated with ‘originally rare’ terrestrial ecosystems.
- Protect habitats of acutely and chronically threatened indigenous species.
The statement sets out that the priorities do not collectively identify all indigenous biodiversity that is significant under s6(c) of the RMA.
The following list identifies some of the issues and cautions to be aware of in the use of this statement of priorities.
- It lists priorities for protecting rare and threatened biodiversity – it does not address representativeness.
- Land environments defined to Level IV are a relatively coarse filter in some areas of New Zealand where, for example, poor data about soil variability limits the identification of distinctively different areas at Level IV (eg, much of Northland).
- There can be highly valuable unprotected areas on private land in land environments where there is more than 20 per cent indigenous cover. Vegetation and ecosystems within a land environment may vary considerably and what remains may be dominated by one vegetation type with few examples of other now uncommon/rare vegetation types.
- The statement addresses terrestrial biodiversity only.
Indigenous biodiversity objectives and policies in council planning documents
Policy statements and plans prepared under the RMA must contain objectives and policies. Whilst regional plans normally provide the focus for biodiversity objectives and policies they should also be formed within district plans and, in so doing, must give effect to regional policies and objectives, providing more local detail as necessary. Objectives and policies should be precise and measurable so that their effectiveness can be monitored (as is required by s35(2) of the Act). Objectives also need to be appropriately and sufficiently specific, providing a framework within which precise policies (and rules) can be formed.
In forming objectives and policies, councils should identify what needs to occur in order to maintain and enhance biodiversity.
To assist in preparing biodiversity objectives and policies (and in order to thus inform methods) identification of the following would be useful:
- actual outcomes of current policy and importantly the gaps in policy and comparison with what is wanted to be achieved
- extent and condition of the indigenous biodiversity remaining within the region or district
- actual and potential threats and other issues affecting that biodiversity
- opportunities for preventing biodiversity loss and promoting its recovery where it has been damaged
- likely future patterns in land use and other economic activity, and how these patterns and activity may affect biodiversity values within the life cycle of the policy
- national policies and other guidance about national priorities
- underlying level of community understanding and support for indigenous biodiversity.
When preparing biodiversity policies and plans in order to help secure better implementation outcomes, the following should be considered:
- developing plans in consultation with the consents staff to help ensure the provisions can be effectively implemented
- preparing a plan implementation strategy
- ‘field-testing’ policies (eg, trial application of significance criteria on actual sites using independent assessors)
- developing guidelines and training for consents and enforcement staff (an example is the Environment Waikato biodiversity practice note for consents staff
- developing a formal checklist for planners to help them identify matters that need to be addressed for different types of applications and in different environments
- developing consent condition templates designed to address different types of habitat and activity (eg, the Proposed Rodney District Plan 2000 Native Revegetation Planting Standards)
- forming or joining regional (and district) biodiversity forums to share information and ideas.
The analysis should be sufficiently detailed and comprehensive, to both provide a sound basis for the policy and methods and clearly guide subsequent decision making.
A simple set of biodiversity objectives could be developed based on the following broad principles:
- no extinction of indigenous species from the region
- no loss of indigenous ecosystem types
- no loss of ecosystem mosaics and sequences
- no reduction in area/extent of rare ecosystems (less than 5000 hectares in total nationally)
- stabilisation of indigenous species populations
- no significant reduction in the natural range of indigenous species across the region
- indigenous dominance of ecosystems.
Further more detailed biodiversity objectives are available.
See the writing provisions for regional and district plans guidance note for detailed guidance on writing objectives and policies.
Methods for managing biodiversity
Ecosystem management concepts
There are several concepts that are relevant to the management of ecosystems:
- buffers
- corridors
- eco-sourcing/eco-siting
- ecosystem
- edge effect
- habitat
- ecological restoration.
The glossary contains further definitions.
Regulatory and non-regulatory tools
The following sets out the methods (regulatory and non-regulatory) for managing biodiversity.
1. Regulatory provisions
2. Regulatory economic instruments
3. Non-regulatory tools
4. Non-regulatory economic instruments
5. Council lands
6. Council infrastructure development and maintenance
7. Council biosecurity work
8. Accessing expertise
Refer to ‘An analysis of biodiversity maintenance methods available for councils’ for further information on the above methods.
Choosing an appropriate mix of tools
The following factors will influence the methods a council chooses to manage indigenous biodiversity:
- the characteristics of indigenous biodiversity present (species, populations, ecological associations and ecosystems), along with their distribution, abundance and condition
- threats to that biodiversity, including the type and level of development pressures
- the characteristics of the indigenous biodiversity in legally protected areas compared with the indigenous biodiversity that is not legally protected
- the resources that the council is able to access, including staff expertise
- community and landowner knowledge about indigenous biodiversity and attitudes about how it should be managed.
Each council should undertake an analysis of their situation to help them select the most appropriate mix of tools and their relative weighting. There is no single ‘best practice’ combination of tools that would address the circumstances of all councils. In some cases, it may be appropriate to divide a region or district into unit types that identify the type and intensity of development pressures and the state of remaining biodiversity.
Other appropriate actions towards maintaining indigenous biodiversity could include:
- infrastructure development and management (eg, roading, water supply, wastewater management)
- management of lands owned by a council, including water supply catchments, forestry lands, parks and reserves (including esplanade and other reserves as well as unformed public roads along water margins)
- biosecurity administration and management
- natural hazard management.
A biodiversity strategy or action plan developed jointly between regional and district councils and the community can provide a rigorous basis for a council to determine the priority actions and funding for the circumstances.
Offsetting
Offsetting is a tool that could be used to compliment other methods to remedy and mitigate effects. An IUCN paper defines biodiversity offsets as conservation actions intended to compensate for the residual unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused by development so as to ensure no net loss of biodiversity. The definition is based on biodiversity offsets being considered last, that is, developers should first seek to avoid, then minimise (design a project to reduce harm) and then mitigate (alleviate the residual harm to the extent possible) their impacts on biodiversity. Offsetting is normally used when the project has residual unavoidable impacts on biodiversity. See the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme site for further information about the general concepts of biodiversity offsets.
Offset regimes need clear priorities that are consistent with agreed conservation objectives.
The term ‘environmental compensation’ is often used in New Zealand to refer to offsetting. A Lincoln University paper concluded that the practice of environmental compensation in New Zealand was variable and needed robust and understandable policy guidance. Several Environment Court decisions discuss biodiversity offsets and environmental compensation.
Resource Management Act 1991 policy and plan implementation
Improving plan implementation
Implementation is the point in plan development process where attention to detail and approach can directly influence outcomes. Some of the difficulties councils have faced in implementing plans (typically first generation plans) include:
- difficulty in interpreting some plan provisions (wording is ambiguous or imprecise)
- lack of information and knowledge about ecological matters and biodiversity in the district or region
- applicants for resource consent providing inadequate assessments of ecological effects
- difficulty of enforcing plan provisions with some landowners
- monitoring compliance with resource consent decisions especially for remote sites
- clarifying the respective accountabilities of regional and district councils.
Compliance with the biodiversity-related conditions in resource consents
Consent conditions relating to maintaining indigenous biodiversity usually require ongoing protection or restoration actions. Accordingly, in setting conditions, councils should consider the following:
- monitoring of consent conditions
- covenants established by way of a consent notice that can require natural areas to be protected in perpetuity. A monitoring and compliance programme for these covenants requires that their initial design, establishment and management be undertaken properly and their boundaries added to the council’s GIS databases.
- encourage use of voluntary covenants, where compliance tends to be much higher (see table 5), for example, where landowners voluntarily enter into a covenant under the Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust Act 1977 or the Reserves Act 1977.
Monitoring the effectiveness of RMA plans and policies
It is important to monitor the outcomes of plan and policy biodiversity objectives, otherwise it is not possible to determine whether the anticipated outcomes are actually being achieved. It is beyond the scope of this guidance note to provide detailed guidance on the design, implementation and reporting of biodiversity monitoring programmes. See the Monitoring and Reporting One Stop Shop for guidance on monitoring plan and policy effectiveness.
There is no finalised national set of indicators. However, several councils have begun to monitor aspects of biodiversity using indicators. Environment Waikato has developed a web-based system for reporting various environmental indicators, including several region-wide biodiversity indicators and a wetland indicator.
An example of a report on the effectiveness of the biodiversity section in a regional policy statement is Environment Waikato’s Progress Toward Achievement of Environment Waikato’s Regional Policy Statement Objectives: Biodiversity and natural heritage. This report found that it was difficult to monitor the achievement of very general objectives.
Wellington City Council monitors a variety of biodiversity indicators in its relatively extensive reserve network. Forest bird counts are undertaken twice annually in a selection of naturally vegetated reserves while a variety of vegetation parameters are measured less frequently.
Best practice examples
This section of the guidance note lists examples of best practice. While overall best practice requires a combination of methods appropriate to the particular circumstances of the region or territorial local authority, most examples identified here relate to individual methods that should be part of a comprehensive suite of methods. Where a particular example has been discussed in the analysis of biodiversity methods available for councils, the best practice example will include a link to the method discussion.
Please be aware that there may be other examples of best practice, particularly for non-regulatory methods where only a limited number of examples could be included.
Overall
Waitakere City District Plan has a ‘green network’ as a major theme in its plan. The plan provides a mix of biodiversity regulatory tools and non-regulatory tools.
Horizons MW Proposed One Plan (PDF) is a combined regional policy statement and regional plan, with threatened native habitats as one of four major regional issues underpinning the plan.
Regulatory approaches
Horizons MW Proposed One Plan clearly specifies regional and territorial local authority roles for indigenous biodiversity as required by s62(1)(i)(iii).
Waitakere City District Plan (PDF) uses biodiversity management/protection as a key theme in plan development. (Method Reg1.)
The Auckland City Council Proposed District Plan Hauraki Gulf Islands Section 2006 has a number of zones based on landforms and ecological attributes. (Method Reg2.)
The Coastal Habitat Preservation Zone in the Environment Bay of Plenty Regional Coastal Environment Plan (PDF) contains intertidal vegetation and marsh bird habitats of international, national and regional significance. The purpose of this zone is preservation in perpetuity of its constituent habitats.
New Plymouth District Council District Plan Appendix 21 (PDF) clearly depicts the boundaries of the legally unprotected significant natural areas on aerial images. There is also a description of each site.
The Kapiti Coast District Plan includes both a schedule of ecologically significant sites and district-wide rules controlling vegetation clearance (Method Reg12).
Rotorua District Plan uses rules for vegetation clearance (Method Reg5) and wetland drainage and infilling (Method Reg8). There are more restrictive provisions in the Lakes A zone, which is for the catchments of the Rotorua Lakes.
Environment Bay of Plenty Proposed Regional Water and Land Management Plan uses rules and methods to encourage best management of wetlands and facilitate specified works that are necessary for wetland maintenance and enhancement. (Method Reg10.)
The proposed Rodney District Plan 2000 rural section chapter 7, rule 7.14.2.3 specifies native revegetation planting standards for different types of rural subdivision. (Method Reg21.)
Method 9.4.7 in the Western Bay of Plenty District Plan (PDF) provides for the waiving of application fees for certain activities affecting sites that are part of a schedule of significant natural areas (Method RegE6).
Council biodiversity strategies and action plans
A Biodiversity Strategy for the Canterbury Region (PDF) is a multi-agency strategy for the Canterbury region.
The Taranaki Regional Council biodiversity strategy sets out its regional council biodiversity strategy and action plan.
The Wellington City Council Biodiversity Action Plan (PDF).
Providing biodiversity information and education resources for landowners and the community
Environment Bay of Plenty has prepared a number of brochures relating to management of dunes. These brochures focus on improving dune resilience and stability as well as improving biodiversity values. The Environment Bay of Plenty brochure ‘Backyard Buffers’ (PDF) includes an illustrated guide as to what native species are appropriate for each of the ecological ‘zones’ in Bay of Plenty dunes.
Auckland Regional Council brochures on plant pests (PDF 576KB) and animal pests (PDF 346KB) are examples of brochures that include many pest species.
Auckland Regional Council has a series of coastal planting guides for coastal habitats such as dunes, clay banks and forests.
In contrast, the Northland Regional Council/Department of Conservation planting guide (PDF) focuses on native plants and their utility as a food source for native birds.
Greater Wellington Regional Council produces several restoration pamphlets including one on wetland restoration.
Environment Waikato has a free phone for biodiversity advice. (Method NReg3.)
Other non-regulatory approaches
Marlborough District Council’s comprehensive ecological assessment and indigenous biodiversity protection programme for private land. (Method NReg5.)
Horizons MW Proposed One Plan proposes proactive management of representative ‘rare and threatened habitats’ and ‘at-risk habitats’ identified by type in schedule E of that plan. The Council proposes to work with relevant landowners to establish a plan for the proactive management of each area by 2016. This will include separate programmes for wetlands, bush remnants, native fish communities and coastal ecosystems. (Method NReg4.)
Multi-agency biodiversity activities led by councils
Coast Care Bay of Plenty Programme (PDF) is coordinated by Environment Bay of Plenty and is a partnership between the regional council, four district councils and Department of Conservation. It now has 25 volunteer groups. (Method NReg9.)
The Waipa Peat Lakes Accord (PDF) was signed by Environment Waikato, Department of Conservation, Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game Council and Ngaa Iwi Toopu o Waipa. The purpose of the accord is to align the activities of management agencies, when working with landowners, tāngata whenua and interested parties, towards the restoration and enhancement of lakes and wetlands in the Waipa District.
Non-regulatory economic incentives
Northland Regional Council Environment Fund provides funding for a variety of biodiversity protection and restoration activities including wetlands protection and enhancement, plant and animal pest control (specified species) outside of community control areas, revegetation with native plants, coastal dune enhancement and protection and stock exclusion from the coastal marine area. (Method NRegE1.)
Waitakere City Green Network community assistance programme (PDF) includes a comprehensive package of non-regulatory provisions to support and encourage landowners to protect and restore biodiversity. (Method NRegE2.)
Council lands
The Auckland Regional Council manages 27 regional parks covering 40,000 hectares including open sanctuaries for the conservation of biodiversity and endangered species. Auckland Regional Council is acquiring regional parkland for conservation, for mainland islands, for heritage protection and for preventing inappropriate coastal development (eg, recent purchase of a nationally threatened dune lake, forest and shrubland complex at Te Arai Point).
Greater Wellington Regional Council manages over 50,000 hectares of parks, forest and other recreation areas. Some of the water catchment areas contain the best examples of original lowland podocarp forest in the lower North Island. Part of the Wainuiomata catchment has been fenced and is subject to intensive animal pest control.
Waitakere City Council Green Network includes the ‘Planting on Parks’ programme, which has about 35 annual events involving more than 650 people.
The Karori Sanctuary/Zealandia in Wellington contains 225 hectares of lowland regenerating forest surrounded by an 8.6 kilometre predator-proof fence on land leased from council. (Method CL4.)
RMA provisions
Some relevant provisions in the RMA include:
- s5 Purpose
- s6 Matters of national importance, s6(a), (c)
- s7 Other matters, especially s7(d) and (i)
- s24 Functions of Minister for the Environment
- s28 Functions of Minister of Conservation
- s30 Functions of regional councils under this Act, especially s30(1)(c)(iii)(a), (ga).
- s31 Functions of territorial authorities under this Act, s31(1)(b)(iii)
- s31A Minister of Conservation to have certain powers of local authority
- s35 Duty to gather information, monitor, and keep records
- s58 Contents of New Zealand coastal policy statements
- s62 Contents of regional policy statements, s62(i)(iii)
- s189 Notice of requirement to territorial authority
- s199 Purpose of water conservation orders
- s200 Meaning of water conservation order
- s229 Purposes of esplanade reserves and esplanade strips (and associated sections relating to esplanade reserves and esplanade strips establishment)
- Schedule 3 Water quality classes.
Relevant case law
The case law analysis addresses:
- the relationship of s6(c) to s5 in the RMA
- what aspects of biodiversity are addressed in s6(a) of the RMA
- s6(c) of the RMA:
- Minister of Conservation v Western Bay of Plenty District Council (A71/2001)
- Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society Inc and others v Central Otago District Council (A128/2004)
- environmental compensation and biodiversity offsets.
Related guidance notes
- Climate change
- Coastal land development
- Earthworks
- Esplanade reserves and strips
- Landscapes
- Monitoring and reporting (One-Stop Shop)
- Subdivision
Relevant publications, websites and biodiversity information management
Glossary
Current challenges in practice
Variation between local councils: The considerable variation between city and district councils (in terms of the nature and amount of indigenous biodiversity remaining, the type and magnitude of development pressures, council staff and financial resources and community attitudes) means it is not possible to develop a single ideal model for addressing biodiversity maintenance.
Regional and territorial authority functions: Regional and territorial authorities both have biodiversity maintenance functions. The relationship between these two levels of government is to be specified in regional policy statements. A challenge is to negotiate clear statements that clarify the roles of each level of government with respect to biodiversity maintenance to ensure meaningful and proactive relationships are developed.
Landowner trust: It can be difficult to develop effective methods for biodiversity maintenance where trust and effective relationships with landowners are limited. The challenge is to build relationships that engender mutual trust and information sharing.
Tension between ‘maintenance’ and ‘enhancement’: While the RMA uses the term ‘maintenance’ in relation to indigenous biodiversity, in many places, particularly coastal and lowland ecosystems, little intact indigenous biodiversity remains. In these situations, the long-term maintenance of remnant indigenous biodiversity requires restoration and enhancement, which presents additional challenges for councils.
Mitigation and compensation: It can be difficult to determine appropriate levels and types of mitigation to compensate for the loss of indigenous vegetation and wildlife habitat within the constraints of the RMA. A Stream Ecological Valuation (SEV) method has been established in Auckland and has been translated to Wellington. This tool provides a numerical value to calculate the amount of mitigation (which can include offsets) that must be offered.
Privacy issues: It can be difficult to manage the tension between a public agency collecting information about biodiversity on private land and the desire of some landowners for that information not to be made public.
Funding for voluntary mechanisms: While voluntary, non-regulatory approaches are frequently promoted and included as plan methods, councils can be reluctant to fund them adequately. Furthermore, many funding mechanisms for indigenous biodiversity protection and restoration activities provide only short-term funding, even though the sustained success of a project may depend on long-term ongoing funding. This challenge especially applies where biodiversity benefits gained from initial funding require intensive ongoing pest control.
Assessing significance: While many of the criteria (in this guidance note) are well recognised, there is no commonly accepted consistent methodology for assessing ecological significance.
Prioritising non-regulatory approaches: It can be difficult to effectively target voluntary/non-regulatory mechanisms to either the highest priority or to the most effective biodiversity protection or restoration needs. The most effective methods tend to be regulatory ones, where things are required to be done, but these in turn tend to be reactionary processes.
Funding: Many funding mechanisms for indigenous biodiversity protection and restoration activities provide only short-term funding, even though the sustained success of a project may depend on long-term ongoing funding. This especially applies where biodiversity benefits gained from initial funding require intensive ongoing pest control.
Resources for ongoing monitoring: Under most council monitoring regimes it is only possible to assess the efficacy of indigenous biodiversity management at the crudest of scales (eg, spatial extent of vegetation). Meaningful monitoring would require more resources directed towards biodiversity monitoring programmes in order to determine the efficacy of council regulatory and non-regulatory policies.
Information tailored for RMA purposes: Much of the existing data and information basis used to manage indigenous biodiversity at regional or local levels is not designed for RMA purposes. Thus, a key challenge is the costs of developing information bases and relationships with landowners. Existing information does not provide a good framework for understanding biodiversity especially the complexity of connections and inter-relationships between sites, areas and types.
Acknowledgements
The guidance note was prepared by Victoria Froude of Pacific Eco-Logic Ltd with contributions from Andrea Julian of Natural Heritage Ltd, Karen Denyer of Papawera Geological Consulting Ltd, Shona Myers of Auckland Regional Council, Chris Richmond of Pacific Eco-Logic Ltd and Nicky Eade of Marlborough District Council. The preparation of this guidance note was managed by Sarah Myhill of the Ministry for the Environment.
The stakeholder working group provided valuable guidance on direction and content and comments on early drafts. Members were: Murray Brass, Clutha District Council; Nicky Eade, Marlborough District Council; Phillip Martelli, Western Bay of Plenty District Council; Sue Mavor, Queenstown Lakes District Council; Tamsin Page, Canterbury Regional Council; Tim Park, Greater Wellington Regional Council; Reg Proffit, Otorohanga District Council and Sarah Wilson, Action Biocommunity.
Peer review comments were provided by Robert Schofield and Erik Van Eyndhoven of Boffa Miskell Limited; Hamish Kendal, Meg Graeme and Robin Britton of Natural Solutions Ltd and Jan Crawford of Planning Consultants Limited. Greg Lee of Beca compiled and structured the final document. Kaye Whittle of K2 Words and Media provided web editing services.
