Environmental governance
Resource management
- The Resource Management Act: This section of the website is a gateway to information about the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), New Zealand's main piece of legislation that sets out how we should manage our environment.
- Information for the public and business: Find out what the Resource Management Act does, how it works, and how it affects you in your daily life, including how to apply for a resource consent, and how to get involved in the resource consent process, the council planning process and the designation process.
- Information for practitioners: This section provides essential information for RMA practitioners and decision-makers and a link to the Quality Planning website. Find out about training for decision-makers in Making Good Decisions.
- Improving and implementing the RMA: Here you will find information about ongoing work to improve the RMA, including resource management reforms phase two, the monitoring and review project, reviews and amendments, regulations, national environmental standards, national policy statements , biennial surveys, and reviews and investigations of local authorities.
- Administration of the RMA: The Ministry advises and assists the Minister for the Environment with his/her responsibilities under the RMA. These include requests for Ministerial intervention on proposals of national significance (such as call-ins), applications for water conservation orders, requiring authorities and heritage protection authorities.
- Call-ins: A call-in is one option the Minister for the Environment may use to intervene in a matter of national significance. In this section you can find out about current call-ins in progress and decisions made about completed call-ins.
- Ministry support following the Canterbury Earthquakes: Following the Canterbury earthquake events in September 2010, February 2011 and June 2011 and subsequent aftershocks, the Ministry has assisted in the earthquake response and recovery of Canterbury.
Treaty and iwi
- Treaty and iwi: Māori are inextricably linked to – and involved with – the use and management of natural resources and the Treaty of Waitangi is a central theme in New Zealand’s resource management legislation.
- Treaty settlements: The Ministry for the Environment works closely with the Office of Treaty Settlements – the Crown agency charged with negotiating Treaty of Waitangi claim settlements.
- The role of Kaahui Taiao: This is a small group within the Ministry for the Environment that provides advice and information on Māori and Treaty of Waitangi issues in relation to environmental and resource management policies, and claims to the Waitangi Tribunal involving natural resources.
Aquaculture
- Aquaculture reform: This section summarises the main features of the new regime for managing aquaculture introduced by the Aquaculture Reform Act 2004. It introduces five information sheets on aquaculture reform and also covers aquaculture management areas, existing marine farms, and Treaty settlement.
- Implementation programme: The Ministry for the Environment, Department of Conservation and Ministry of Fisheries have developed an RMA implementation plan with projects that will help councils pick up their role and responsibilities under the Aquaculture Reform Act.
Laws and treaties
- Marine and Coastal Area Act
- Climate Change Response Act
- Environment Act
- The Fiordland Marine Management Act
- The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act
- The Ozone Layer Protection Act
- The Resource Management Act
- Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act
- National environment standards
- Regulatory impact statements
- Multilateral Environmental Agreements
- International trade and the environment
Research
- Research into natural resource governance: This section features research the Ministry has commissioned on the governance of natural resources.
Last updated: 5 April 2013
