Abstract for presentation at Biodiversity Extinction Crisis Conference - A Pacific Response

This paper describes New Zealand's legislative framework for environmental management and biodiversity protection at a landscape level under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The description includes the administrative framework for environmental management, the role of policy development and planning, and the application of management tools.
The paper then critically evaluates the application of the RMA in practice, and the extent to which it has delivered effective biodiversity protection through a landscape-level response. This evaluation is illustrated by three short case studies. The first is of the management of the Waitakere Ranges, a rapidly urbanizing area of rich biodiversity on the fringes of the Auckland metropolitan area. The second is the management of the Far North district, a largely rural and economically depressed area which includes important habitat for the threatened North Island brown kiwi. The third is the management of the coastal environment of the Hauraki Gulf, a large semi-enclosed marine system on the east coast of the North Island.
The paper concludes with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the RMA approach, ways in which the legislation could be improved, and its potential applicability to other countries in the Australia Pacific region.