Experts urge stronger baseline science and data for New Zealand’s new resource management system
Parliamentary Commissioner Simon Upton and academics warn that consolidating public environmental data and stronger science workforce capacity are required before New Zealand’s new, more permissive resource management system is implemented.
New Zealand’s planned resource management reforms that aim to allow more activities under a permissive framework depend on reliable environmental baselines and sustained monitoring, experts say.
Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, told policymakers that environmental data must be consolidated and made public to expose information gaps and support integrated decision-making before permits are granted. He noted the current approach requires applicants to assemble environmental information for each permit, a process that is time-consuming and costly on a per-entity basis.
The reformed system intends to use criteria and indicators — such as stream quality measurements and soil profile data — to check that permitted activities comply over time. Upton supports greater monitoring but warned that it will be effective only if there are reliable baseline conditions against which change can be assessed.
Establishing those baselines is contested. Questions remain about what constitutes predevelopment conditions: whether baselines should reflect pre-colonisation landscapes, changes due to evolving technology, legacy municipal and industrial waste systems, or historical traffic and land use patterns. The commentary references former Commissioner Dr Jan Wright in the context of native deforestation as part of that baseline discussion.
The piece highlights risks to these scientific and monitoring capacities from workforce declines in public research bodies. The Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI) is cited as having cut 134 staff in a later restructuring round, on top of 152 staff losses earlier. The author warns that such reductions affect tertiary education pipelines and the career signals sent to schools, potentially shrinking the pool of skilled scientists available to support the new system.
Dr Steve Wakelin, in the Norman Taylor Address for BSI, described science as an instruction manual and stressed the need for stronger science education so the public and decision-makers remain informed. Enrollment and degree completion data are noted to have moved only slightly: agriculture education rose from 1.0% to 1.2% and natural/physical sciences from 11.2% to 11.9%, totals the author characterises as modest for underpinning a productive economy.
The article contrasts encouraging market and policy signals — including the use of KiwiSaver funds for farm purchases and government emphasis on farm succession — with the concern that a shrinking scientific workforce could hinder agricultural productivity and broader economic growth. It calls for benchmarking environmental quality with productive goals to preserve New Zealand’s competitive edge while maintaining environmental standards.
The author argues that New Zealand farmers and scientists have historically sought a balance between productivity and environmental protection, and that the next generation should be encouraged into careers that meet the country’s scientific and farming needs. The piece closes by reiterating the need for consolidated public data and sustained scientific capacity as advocated by Simon Upton and referenced speakers.
Jacqueline Rowarth is identified as the author and listed with multiple roles: Adjunct Professor at Lincoln University; a farmer-elected director of DairyNZ and Ravensdown; and a member of the Scientific Council of the World Farmers’ Organisation.