National Policy Documents

New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy

The current Biodiversity Strategy 2020 - ‘Te Mana o te Taiao’ – was launched in August 2020.  It sets a strategic framework for 2020-2050 for protection, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity in Aotearoa, particularly of indigenous biodiversity. 

The Strategy is underpinned by two propositions.  First te mauri hikahika o te taiao, that the mauri of nature I vibrant and vigorous.  Secondly, that people are part of nature and nature supports life and human activity, thus, when nature is in trouble, so are people.

The Strategy is focused on achieving 5 high-level outcomes:

• Ecosystems from mountain tops to ocean depths are thriving
• Indigenous species and their habitats across the country and beyond are thriving
• Peoples’ lives are enriched through their connection with nature
• Treaty partners and tangata whenua are exercising their full role as Rangatira and kaitiaki
• Prosperity is intrinsically linked with thriving biodiversity

Each high-level outcome is supported by a number of more focused sub-outcomes.

The three pou or pillars identified as being central to achieving these outcomes are:

• Getting the right systems in place to tackle the biodiversity crisis, with a focus on governance, legislation, and funding systems, the role of tangata whenua and matauranga, improving and aligning science and data systems.
• Empowering all New Zealanders to help protect and restore biodiversity through increasing understanding, capability and capacity, linking positive biodiversity outcomes with economics, and government working in partnership with others.
• Addressing the direct pressures causing decline in biodiversity and restoring biodiversity where it has been lost. 

The Strategy includes time-bound goals for 2025, 2030, and 2050, which gives hope that it will not be left to languish as occurred with the previous Strategy written in 2000.

The Strategy was developed with the input of three expert working groups and from the wider public through consultation meetings, hui, and submissions, and is underpinned by the state of the environment information presented in the companion Biodiversity Aotearoa report. It is New Zealand’s national strategy for the purposes of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Strategy is to be followed by a series of implementation plans that will set out actions and assign responsibilities.

Statement of National Priorities for Protecting Rare and Threatened Biodiversity on Private Land

In 2007 non-statutory guidance was released in the form of a ‘Statement of National Priorities for Protecting Rare and Threatened Biodiversity on Private Land’. The full text of the statement can be accessed here. The statement sets out four national priorities for the protection of biodiversity on private land and provides additional information on how the vegetation, ecosystem and habitat types can be identified. The national priorities are:

National Priority 1: To protect indigenous vegetation associated with land environments (defined by Land Environments of New Zealand at Level IV) that have 20 per cent or less remaining in indigenous cover.

National Priority 2: To protect indigenous vegetation associated with sand dunes and wetlands; ecosystem types that have become uncommon due to human activity.

National Priority 3: To protect indigenous vegetation associated with ‘originally rare’ terrestrial ecosystem types not already covered by priorities 1 and 2.

National Priority 4: To protect habitats of acutely and chronically threatened indigenous species.

National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity 2023

The National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity 2023 (NPSIB) was gazetted in July 2023 and came into force the following month.

Its objective is to maintain indigenous biodiversity so that there is “at least no overall loss in indigenous biodiversity”.  The main way in which the NPSIB does this is by requiring the identification and protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation or significant habitat of indigenous fauna (called Significant Natural Areas (SNAs)) and by promoting restoration of indigenous biodiversity.

Application

The NPSIB only applies to indigenous biodiversity in the terrestrial environment throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. However, it also applies to geothermal ecosystems provided they are not in the coastal marine area, specified highly mobile fauna that move beyond the terrestrial environment and natural inland wetlands.  

The NPSIB does not apply to the development, operation, maintenance or upgrade of renewable electricity generation assets and activities and electricity transmission network assets and activities.  

Identifying SNAs

The NPSIB requires that all territorial authorities (city or district councils) identify SNAs within their district using the ‘significance’ criteria set out in Appendix 1 of the NPSIB.  The identification process must involve tangata whenua and landowners.  Councils must then notify a plan change to include a map of SNAs in their plans.  Councils have until 2031 to notify their plan changes.  

SNAs can be on Crown-owned land or on private land.  If the values or extent of a proposed SNA are disputed by the landowner, the council must conduct a physical inspection of the area or, if that is not practicable, use the best information available to it at the time to define the SNA.  

If, through a resource consenting or other process, the council becomes aware than an area may be an SNA it must conduct an assessment and, if a new SNA is identified, include it in the council’s next plan or plan change.  

Protecting indigenous biodiversity

The NPSIB protects SNAs by requiring that new subdivision, use or development avoid the following adverse effects on SNAs:  

•  loss of ecosystem representation and extent.
• disruption to sequences, mosaics, or ecosystem function.
• fragmentation of SNAs or the loss of buffers or connections within an SNA.
• a reduction in the function of the SNA as a buffer or connection to other  important habitats or ecosystems.
• a reduction in the population size or occupancy of Threatened or At Risk (declining) species that use an SNA for any part of their life cycle.

There are extensive exceptions to this ‘avoid’ requirement. These include for example if adverse effects occur when the SNA is covered by a specified covenant or kawenata, the use or development is required to address a high risk to public health or safety, or for sustainable customary use in accordance with tikanga.  

Adverse effects as a result of the following activities are also exempt:  

Any adverse effects on SNAs that do not have to be avoided must be managed by applying an effects management hierarchy, which requires that:  

(a) Adverse effects are avoided where practicable; then
(b) Where adverse effects cannot be avoided, they are minimised where practicable;then
(c) Where adverse effects cannot be minimised, they are remedied where practicable; then
(d) Where more than minor residual adverse effects cannot be avoided, minimised, or remedied, biodiversity offsetting is provided where possible; then
(e) Where biodiversity offsetting of more than minor residual adverse effects is not possible, biodiversity compensation is provided; then
(f) If biodiversity compensation is not appropriate, the activity itself is avoided.

The NPSIB includes principles for biodiversity offsetting (Appendix 3) and biodiversity compensation (Appendix 4). These principles guide the use of these concepts and state that they cannot be used in certain circumstances, i.e., because of the irreplaceability or vulnerability of the indigenous biodiversity affected, when the effects are uncertain or unknown, or when the proposed gain cannot be achieved within acceptable timeframes. 

The NPSIB has specific provisions relating to certain areas as follows:

Geothermal SNAs - Councils are required to include objectives, policies and methods in policy statements and plans in relation to new subdivision, use and development to provide protection for geothermal SNAs that reflect their vulnerability.  

Plantation forests on any SNA - Adverse effects must be managed to maintain indigenous biodiversity as far as practicable while providing for plantation forestry activities to continue.  

Specified Māori land - Councils are required to work in partnership with tangata whenua to include objectives, policies and methods in policy statements and plans to maintain and restore indigenous biodiversity and protect SNAs and identified taonga while enabling various activities to support Māori use and development.  

Outside SNAs – Significant adverse effects on indigenous biodiversity of new subdivision, use and development outside SNAs must also be managed by the effects management hierarchy. If the effect is not significant, the activity must be managed to achieve no net loss of indigenous biodiversity.  

Existing activities

The NPSIB does not affect existing use rights established under section 10 or 20A of the RMA.  Councils must include objectives, policies and rules in their policy statements or plans to enable specified established activities to continue provided that the effects on a SNA are not enlarged i.e., the scope of the activity remains the same.

That includes provision for the maintenance of improved pasture which can continue if:  

   (a) It is part of a regular cycle of periodic maintenance of that pasture;
   (b) The adverse effects on an SNA are no greater in intensity, scale or character;
   (c) The improved pasture has not itself become an SNA;
   (d) The land is not uncultivated dispositional landform; and
   (e) The maintenance will not adversely affected a Threatened or At Risk species.

Application to certain categories of species

The NPSIB has specific provisions relating to taonga species and highly mobile fauna:

Acknowledged and identified taonga: Local authorities must work in partnership with tangata whenua in the recognition, identification, protection and management of species identified as taonga.  

Specified highly mobile fauna:The NPSIB lists in Appendix 2, 49 highly mobile fauna that are Threatened or At Risk. Areas outside SNAs that support these species must be identified and managed to maintain their populations across their natural range.  This is done by regional councils recording and mapping highly mobile fauna areas in their policy statements  and local authorities including objectives, policies or methods in their policy statements or plans to manage adverse effects on these areas.

Regional councils are required to record areas outside SNAs where highly mobile fauna areas exist and include them in their regional policy statements. Similarly, territorial authorities must include in their policy statements and plans, the policies and objectives necessary to manage the adverse effects of use and development on these areas, with the aim of maintaining viable population numbers.  

Restoring indigenous biodiversity

The NPSIB requires that local authorities include objectives, policies and methods in their policy statements and plans to promote the restoration of indigenous biodiversity, particularly in priority areas.  This can include the use of incentives, imposing conditions on resource consents or new designations.

The NPSIB also includes targets for increased indigenous vegetation cover. Regional Councils must set a target of at least 10% indigenous vegetation cover for any urban or non-urban environment that has less than 10% cover of indigenous vegetation and, in consultation with tangata whenua and territorial authorities, consider setting higher targets for urban and non-urban environments that already have at least 10% coverage of indigenous vegetation.  

Each regional council must prepare a regional biodiversity strategy that complies with the requirements in Appendix 5 of the NPSIB.  The purpose of these strategies is to promote landscape-scale restoration of the region’s indigenous biodiversity. Councils have 10 years to complete their biodiversity strategies (by 2033).  

A monitoring plan for indigenous biodiversity is also required to check on the state of SNAs, the maintenance of identified taonga, the achievement of restoration objectives and indigenous vegetation cover targets.  

Last updated at 2:27PM on December 20, 2024