A review of the concept of sustainable management as applied to New Zealand

Abstract

Development in New Zealand since European times has greatly exacerbated the biological regression, erosion of land and pollution of waterways which started in Polynesian time. European development has been exploitive in character and has ignored the principles of sustainable management. Natural hazards such as volcanism, earthquakes, flooding and coastal erosion also pose a threat to sustainable management. Better understanding of the optimum use and management of land and water are required to reduce the risk of such hazards. The introduction of the concept of sustainable management to New Zealand, as embodied in the Resource Management Bill, promises to be the most radical reform of conservation law in New Zealand§ history. However, the implications of introducing sustainable management in this environment have not been fully thought through. In particular, there is need for a better technical understanding of the resources being managed.