Environment of New Zealand - Environmental Issues

Environmental Issues

As with many other countries there are a number of environmental organisations that are working towards addressing various environmental issues in New Zealand.

The move to carry out genetic engineering in New Zealand is opposed by environmentalists on economic and environmental grounds and the release of genetically modified organisms now has a strict regulatory regime under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act.

Coal mining in the West Coast Region is of concern and there are plans to start the Cypress Mine, the Escarpment Mine Project, the Mt William North Mining Project, as well as issues at the long established Stockton Mine. Lignite mining in the Southland Region is also encountering opposition.

Water pollution in New Zealand is an ongoing issue. Fish and Game, a statutory government body, started a dirty dairying campaign to highlight water pollution due to dairy farming. It led to the creation in 2003 of the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord, a voluntary agreement between Fonterra, Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and regional councils. A 2009 study showed that the Manawatu River was found that the river had the highest gross primary production (GPP) compared to 300 rivers and streams in the Western world. High GPP rates are an indication of poor ecological health and can lead to various environmental issues.

Deforestation in New Zealand is now of negligible concern since logging indigenous forest on public land has ceased and it requires a permit to be carried out on privately owned land. In the past 800 years of human occupation New Zealand has lost 75% of its forests due to deliberately lit fires and land clearance.