These web pages summarise the Taranaki Regional Council’s third state of the environment report for Taranaki – the earlier reports were prepared in 1996 and 2003.
This time the picture can be more complete. Much of the 2009 report’s information is based on comprehensive monitoring programmes established by the Council in the mid-1990s.
These programmes have now been running long enough to enable statistical testing of trends.
The report generally presents Taranaki as having a high-quality environment, which is valued and well-managed by the community. Like any report card, though, there are positives and negatives. In summary, the report finds that:
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More of the eastern hillcountry land is being managed sustainably.
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Our soils are generally healthy.
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Agencies and community groups have stepped up efforts to protect indigenous biodiversity by undertaking predator control programmes.
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The ecological health of rivers and streams has measurably improved at a number of sites and not measurably deteriorated at any site over the past dozen years.
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Measures of ecological health, such as the communities of invertebrates living in streams, are good to excellent in the upper catchments where there is more stream bank vegetation cover but only fair further down the catchments where land use is more intense.
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Fresh water usually meets the bacteriological guidelines for swimming, except after floods or in some intensively farmed catchments. Phosphorus levels, already naturally high and exceeding guidelines, are generally increasing further. Nitrogen levels meet guidelines in upper catchments but not further down.
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Regionally significant wetlands have on the whole been adequately protected but small wetlands and streams are under pressure from land development.
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Coastal water quality for ocean swimming excellent, and rocky shore ecological health is reasonably stable.
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Overall air quality in the region is excellent.
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Landscape, amenity and heritage values are of high quality.
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While the whole region is now serviced by just one landfill, the quantity of waste has increased by 20% over 12 years.
The 2009 report finds total spending on the environment by the Taranaki community is conservatively estimated at $85.1 million a year, an increase of $28 million a year since our 2003 report. Our high-quality environment has not come about by accident but by the co-operative and increasingly proactive actions of the community.
The 2009 State of the Environment Report describes policies, programmes and actions that are the result of combined efforts of the Taranaki Regional Council, district councils, the Department of Conservation, the Ministry of Fisheries, community groups, iwi and landowners. In total, these achievements represent a significant step along the path to sustainable management in Taranaki. The Taranaki Regional Council’s slogan of ‘working with people, caring for our environment’ summarises the approach seen as critical to successful environmental programmes in the future.
Download this section of the full report 1.2mb