What do NZ’s latest wetland regulations mean?
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What do NZ’s latest wetland regulations mean?

Recently, the New Zealand government made changes to the 2020 Freshwater Package after collecting input from the public. The 2020 Freshwater Package was supposed to provide increased protections for wetlands, in line with the government's policy goal of "no further wetland loss." However, following a lengthy consultation process, the government has proceeded with significant changes against recommendations of eNGOs and other concerned groups. Here, we break down what the new policy means and why it is significant.

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Structural issues and under-resourcing at the heart of DOC’s backlog problems

Structural issues and under-resourcing at the heart of DOC’s backlog problems

The Department of Conservation (DOC) is in the process of making targeted amendments to several pieces of conservation legislation, particularly the Conservation Act 1987, the National Parks Act 1980, and the Reserves Act 1977.

In ELI’s view, however, these reforms misdiagnose problems, and overlook the core issues hampering DOC from effectively doing its job. Read our full submission here.

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Job opening - Senior Legal/Policy/Environmental Researcher
biodiversity, freshwater, climate change Guest User biodiversity, freshwater, climate change Guest User

Job opening - Senior Legal/Policy/Environmental Researcher

The Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) is looking to recruit two senior researchers to join our team. We are looking for inquisitive people who have a strong a background in law, policy, or science and want to make a difference for Aotearoa's environment and biodiversity. The senior researchers will use their skills to investigate legal and policy issues to improve the ways our natural taonga are regulated and managed.

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Stewardship land review could result in more mining on conservation land

Stewardship land review could result in more mining on conservation land

ELI is concerned at proposals to invoke a special procedure to review the status of public Stewardship Land. As presently set up, the Government’s proposed measures for carrying out this review suffer from a number of shortcomings which could see large swathes of precious public land disposed of to mining interests. Read our full submission to DOC here.

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Living up to our international fisheries obligations: our submission to FNZ

Living up to our international fisheries obligations: our submission to FNZ

With an EEZ that occupies a relatively generous share of the world’s oceans, New Zealand lags behind other countries in its adoption of international standards and norms. This consultation provides the perfect opportunity for New Zealand to do a stock take against international developments in fishing over the past 25 years, redress the current inadequacies in the Fisheries Act (we have suggested two), and fully implement the international obligations we have signed up to on the world stage.

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Our submission on the EPA’s reassessment of organophosphates (OPs)
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Our submission on the EPA’s reassessment of organophosphates (OPs)

These OPs are the main components of widely used insecticides, pesticides and herbicides in NZ. They have been banned in numerous jurisdictions including the EU and US, due to evidence of significant adverse environments on people and the environment. However, there is an almost complete lack of evidence on the effects of these OPs on NZ’s environment, indigenous taxa and habitats. There is also a lack of evidence on the benefits and economic costs of continuing/discontinuing their use. In ELI’s view, this evidence is crucial to undertaking an informed reassessment. Without it, the EPA should follow the HSNO Act and apply a precautionary approach to its regulation of these hazardous substances.

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