RRI Green Planning Archives: New Zealand
Environmental Policy Review
(current to 1995)

New Zealand: Environmental History

New Zealand's interest in conservation and resource issues dates as far back as the 1860s, when concerns about deforestation were first voiced. The State Forests Act of 1885 dealt with deforestation; the Land Act of 1892 dealt with the preservation of government-owned lands. The country's first national park was established in 1894 and the second in 1900. These early conservation actions were largely driven by concern for the impacts of resource depletion on such enterprises as the timber industry and farming. By the early 1920s, however, a true conservation movement was beginning to take form, and legislation designed to preserve public lands began to be introduced.

Interest in conservation grew throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act of 1941 was intended to alleviate problems of erosion and flooding. A Nature Protection Council was established in 1950 to coordinate the activities of a number of groups involved in conservation issues. State development programs, in particular the damming of many of New Zealand's rivers for hydropower projects, became issues of great public concern from the late 1950s on, and deforestation became the focus of more radical preservation activities. The Water and Soil Conservation Act of 1967 dealt with the allocation and use of water. Other resource-focused legislation introduced in this era dealt with issues ranging from fisheries protection to minerals to wildlife and the introduction of exotic species.

Since the 1960s, public debate regarding the environment widened from its initial focus on the preservation of New Zealand's scenic beauty to include issues of pollution and public health, such as pesticide use, hazardous waste, asbestos, and sewage treatment. The effect of environmental problems on society as a whole also began to be considered: The Values Party, one of the world's first "green" parties (created in 1972), addressed such issues as the social and ecological consequences of economic growth. In the 1980s New Zealanders increasingly turned their attention to regional and global conservation issues such as rainforest preservation, whaling, and climate change. Public opposition to nuclear power has been particularly intense, due in part to French nuclear testing in the Pacific.

The 1980s brought a period of government-wide regulatory and institutional reform to New Zealand. Economic stagnation and other factors prompted an almost complete overhaul of government institutions and practices. The reforms were designed to bring New Zealand into closer alignment with other free-market economies and to decentralize governmental authority. The reconstitution of local government and the introduction of economic incentives and market instruments as policy tools were two major reforms instituted in this era.

The governmental reform process began in 1984, but its environmental component, the Resource Management Law Reform (RLMR), was not initiated until 1988. The result of this environmental reform process was the Resource Management Act of 1991, which replaced 57 existing resource-related laws and reduced 800 units of government to 93. Although some earlier laws remain in force, the RMA radically altered the process of environmental management in New Zealand, creating a comprehensive, integrated framework for the sustainable management of the country's resources.

{Sources: Buhrs and Bartlett, Johnson}