New Zealand’s environment is in a precarious state and faces an overwhelming number of threats, according to a general government inventory.
The main problems include thousands of endangered or endangered species, unsafe rivers for swimming, loss of productive land due to urban expansion, and global warming that can destabilize many parts of the environment.
The findings were detailed in Environment Aotearoa 2019, undertaken by the Ministry of the Environment (MfE) and Stats NZ. Agencies are required by law to produce such a report every three years.
He measured dozens of environmental issues, some of which used updated or recently released data.
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He described a besieged environment in many ways, in large part due to human actions.
The report showed that when it comes to the overall health of the environment, “things are very bad,” said Kevin Hague, Managing Director of Forest & Bird.
“We have spent too many years denying how our actions – from rampant dairy conversions to destructive seabed trawling – are irreversibly harming our natural world,” he said.
“As a nation, we must develop a bold plan to protect and restore nature now.”
While it paints a grim picture in many ways, the assessment of the relationship of native ecosystems and the plants and animals they contain is particularly grim.
Nearly two-thirds of rare ecosystems were at risk of collapse, according to the report, and thousands of individual species were either threatened or threatened with extinction.
These species include 90 percent of all seabirds, 84 percent of reptiles, 76 percent of freshwater fish, and 74 percent of land birds.
“Many of the habitats – terrestrial, freshwater and marine – on which our native species depend have been reduced or damaged,” the report says.
“Such large-scale changes can make some species particularly vulnerable to extinction and lead to the degradation of entire ecosystems.”
While some species saw their prospects improve thanks to intensive conservation efforts, many others were approaching extinction. In total, nearly 4,000 species had a threat classification deeming them to be at risk.
Over the past decade, 26 species had improved in their conservation status, but 86 had declined. The decline was particularly biased in favor of plant species; Myrtle rust, a damaging fungal disease, alone was responsible for the extinction of 30 plant species.
At least 75 species have become extinct since the arrival of humans: 59 birds, three frogs, two reptiles, four insects and seven plants. Others were likely to join them.
Because only a small portion of New Zealand’s native species are documented – the nearly 11,000 species we know of are probably only 20% of what exists – the true extent of the problem was unknown, and almost certainly under – important estimate.
The consequence has been a “biodiversity crisis” of unknown magnitude, said Dr Ken Hughey, chief science adviser in the Department of Conservation.
“The inconspicuous flora and fauna are an essential component of our biodiversity,” he said. “These are the building blocks that make up our soils, provide food for birds and fish, and enrich habitats – but we don’t know the rate of loss because we don’t have a complete picture of what’s there. find.”
One of the factors in the loss of biodiversity has been the destruction of the habitat in which plants and animals live, which has fundamentally transformed New Zealand’s environment.
The extent of native land cover has declined significantly, according to the report, and continues to do so; By 2012, New Zealand had crossed a threshold in which 51% of the country’s land cover had been altered, either by exotic grasses or by urbanization. There were now more exotic plant species than native ones, and stoats, possums, and rats now cover 94 percent of the country’s land area, virtually everywhere except in the harshest of environments.
Native forests once covered 80 percent of New Zealand, but today they cover 26 percent.
A related problem was the disappearance of productive land, often due to urban sprawl. Urban areas had increased by 10% since 1996, particularly around Auckland and Waikato; One study found that around 5,800 lifestyle blocks were added each year, many on the outskirts of urban areas.
Some of these blocks were on “mixed-use land”, which can be used for many purposes, including food production. Only about 5 percent of New Zealand’s land was “multipurpose land,” which was being sucked up for urban use, despite a growing need for food production.
Many rivers continue to be polluted by human activities. Using an improved method of interpreting water quality trends, the report paints a more complete picture of the country’s freshwater problems than others before.
In particular, he found that the quality of water in pastoral areas remained degraded, possibly due to agricultural expansion. On average, rivers in pastoral areas contained almost 15 times more E. coli, 10 times more nitrogen and more than three times more phosphorus than a river in native land cover.
Between 2013 and 2017, 82% of the length of rivers in pastoral areas were not suitable for swimming, according to a standard relating to the risk of contracting Campylobacter, a water-borne disease.
“Numerous studies at the national, regional and watershed scales show that concentrations of [several pollutants] in rivers, all increase as the area of agricultural land upstream increases, ”the report said.
Urban water quality was also polluted and in some cases worse. It was partly due to pollution by heavy metals, which enter waterways through urban runoff.
The report noted, however, that less than one percent of rivers by length were in urban areas, while nearly half were in pastoral areas.
“The same nationwide pattern has been reported for over 20 years,” said Dr Scott Larned, Niwa’s chief freshwater scientist.
“[It] says the government’s current reforms to how we manage our freshwater must be bold if they are to meet New Zealanders’ expectations for safe and healthy waters for swimming.
Water use was also examined, but like many other issues, frustrated by a lack of data.
Water consumption per person in New Zealand is over 2 million liters per year, the second highest in the OECD and almost triple the average.
There is no data on the amount of water actually used each year. The authorized amount of use shows that more than 5,000 billion liters of water are used for irrigation, or about two-thirds of all water used nationally.
This is the consequence of a significant increase in the area of irrigated land in recent times: irrigated land almost doubled between 2002 and 2017, from 384,000 ha to 747,000 ha. Much of this conversion took place in Canterbury.
There were also ocean data shortages. What was clear, however, was the effect of fishing methods on the marine environment.
New Zealand’s total marine catch had grown more than twenty-fold in half a century, and larger vessels using more aggressive methods were disturbing the seabed with trawling.
Bycatch (unintentional fishing) of endangered species was a particular problem, according to the report: The majority of dead Hector and Maui dolphins for which a cause of death was determined were the result of bycatch.
Thousands of seabirds are also killed each year due to fishing activity. New Zealand is a global hotspot for seabird life, and nearly all species are threatened.
The report noted, however, that the impact of fishing on deep-sea marine ecosystems was not well understood. There were also knowledge gaps regarding plastic pollution and the effect of sediment from rivers entering the ocean.
Above all problems is climate change, which is expected to affect virtually all parts of the environment, according to the report.
Global warming was already showing in the data, from melting glaciers to more severe flooding, to increased numbers of wasps in some areas.
“As an island nation with a vast marine area, a long coastline and an economy based primarily on primary production and international tourism, we are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” the report said.
The mean annual temperature is the highest in 10,000 years; Four of the past six years have been ranked among the hottest on record.
The report noted, in particular, New Zealand’s high per capita emissions rate, which was above the average for industrialized countries.
Since 1977, it is estimated that New Zealand’s glaciers have lost about a quarter of their ice – a volume of ice that could fill Wellington Harbor 12 times, according to the report.
Climate change had also manifested itself in a more modest way. In Taranaki, the range of two wētā species has changed, which has been attributed to climate change.
The report will be presented to policy makers to inform their decision making.
“The report provides a health check of our environment and shows it is under pressure in many places – in our cities, our rivers and our oceans,” said Environment Secretary Vicky Robertson.
“If we are to protect the things we value, now and for future generations, we need to focus our attention on the choices we can make from here.”
The report was not surprised by the government.
“We have known for years about the pollution and damage we cause to our oceans and fresh water, to the climate and to biodiversity,” said Environment Minister David Parker.
He said the government was tightening environmental rules, especially regarding water pollution.
“If, with all our advantages, New Zealand cannot overcome its environmental problems, then the world will not.”
Climate Change Minister James Shaw said any problems detailed in the report would be made worse by climate change, which is why strong action was vital.
