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Why
New Zealand's biodiversity matters
Economic value
"Biodiversity is New Zealand's biological
wealth. We base much of our economy on the use of biological resources,
and benefit from the services provided by healthy ecosystems.
These "ecosystem services" include producing raw materials (principally
food from the sea and fibre from the land), purifying water, decomposing
wastes, cycling nutrients, creating and maintaining soils, providing
pollination and pest control, and regulating local and global
climates. Yet we tend to take these services for granted because
they are provided free of charge by nature. Aside from the biological
resources we use now, New Zealand's biodiversity represents a
pool of untapped opportunities. Like the endemic sponge, discovered
off the Kaikoura coast that produces a cancer-fighting substance,
there are almost certainly other species with potentially useful
and commercially valuable compounds. Scientists believe that most
of these have not yet been discovered". From
The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, February 2000, Part 1,
Page 3.
For a quantitative assessment of the value of New
Zealand's Biodiversity, please refer to: Patterson, M. and Cole,
A. 1999: Assessing
the Value of New Zealand's Biodiversity. Occasional Paper
#1, School of Resource and Environmental Planning, Massey University.
Intrinsic value
"Apart from the value of biodiversity in sustaining our present
quality of life, to many people biodiversity has intrinsic value
- the value of the variety of life in itself". ..."
for Maori, indigenous biodiversity is an integral aspect of their
world-view, and they have a special role and responsibilities
as kaitiaki of our indigenous biodiversity. The responsibility
of humans towards other living things and our obligations to future
generations provide a strong moral basis for their conservation
and underlie the requirements in the Convention on Biological
Diversity ". From The New Zealand Biodiversity
Strategy, February 2000, Part 1, Page 4.
Importance
of a biodiversity strategy for New Zealand
"The Government is responsible for providing the direction
and leadership to ensure the conservation and sustainable use
of New Zealand’s biodiversity as a matter of national importance".
From The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, February 2000, Part
4, Page 4.
"The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy has
been prepared in response to the state of decline of New Zealand's
indigenous biodiversity - described in the State of New Zealand's
Environment report as our "most pervasive environmental issue".
It also reflects New Zealand's commitment, through ratification
of the International Convention on Biological Diversity, to help
stem the loss of biodiversity worldwide.
The purpose of the Strategy is to establish a
strategic framework for action, to conserve and sustainably use
and manage New Zealand's biodiversity. The primary focus is on
New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity. However, because of the
value and economic importance of much of our introduced biodiversity,
the conservation of the genetic resources of our important introduced
species is also addessed". From The New
Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, February 2000, Part 1, Executive
Summary.
Goals
"The
goals [of the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy] establish:
- the high-level biodiversity outcomes for both indigenous biodiversity
and important introduced species that we are aiming to achieve
by 2020 (Goals Three and Four);
- how communities and individuals need to be able to contribute
to achieving these outcomes and share responsibility for and
benefits from biodiversity (Goal One); and
- commitments under the Treaty of Waitangi in managing biodiversity
(Goal Two)".
- From The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy,
February 2000, Part 2, Page 5.
In particular Goal Three:
Halt the decline in New Zealand's indigenous biodiversity:
- "Maintain and restore a full range of remaining natural
habitats and ecosystems to a healthy functioning state, enhance
critically scarce habitats, and sustain the more modified ecosystems
in production and urban environments; and do what else is necessary
to
- Maintain and restore viable populations of all indigenous
species and subspecies across their natural range and maintain
their genetic diversity".
- From The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy,
February 2000, Part 2, Page 5.
"Goal Three is the bottom line nationally
if we are to prevent further decline in indigenous ecosytems and
species. But it is important to note that this does not preclude
goals to maintain or restore indigenous biodiversity to higher
levels in some environments (the marine environment, for example)
or for particular areas or species. Communities may choose to
seek higher targets for particular ecosystems or species within
their region, district, or locality. However, unless we at least
stabilise our indigenous biodiversity nationally, higher goals
will not be an option". From The New Zealand
Biodiversity Strategy, February 2000, Part 3, Page 7.
For a quantitative expression of the goal to halt
indigenous biodiversity decline in the 21st century, see schematic
diagram of indigenous biodiversity loss in New Zealand since 1900,
in The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, February
2000, Part 2, Page 9, Figure 2.1.
Implementation
- Resources required"This Strategy
identifies 147 actions that need to be collectively implemented
over the next 20 years to achieve the goals set out in Part Two.
These actions will not be sufficient in themselves, however. The
focus in the Strategy is on the gaps and inadequacies in our current
management of biodiversity that need to be bridged to halt the
decline in New Zealand’s biodiversity. Therefore the actions identified
here are additional to the management actions and activities that
are already contributing to the conservation and sustainable use
of biodiversity". From The New Zealand
Biodiversity Strategy, February 2000, Part 4, Page 2.
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