In New Zealand the Resource Management RMA 1991 (RMA) is an important piece of legislation that influences our lives every day. It has a significant bearing on how we choose to live, work and play. Under its framework, New Zealand is moving towards a more sustainable future, one in which we will live more in harmony with the environment that sustains us.

Having a basic knowledge of the RMA is vital for people whose business or private activities involve natural resources such as water or land, who wish to protect the wider environment, or who want to get involved in the decisions that affect their neighbourhood, town, papakainga or local environment. "RMA Guide"

The stated purpose of the RMA as contained in Section 5 of the Act is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. For the purposes of the RMA, sustainable management means: Managing the use, development, and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural wellbeing and for their health and safety while-

• a) sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources (excluding minerals) to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations; and
• b) safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems; and
• c) avoiding, remedying, or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on the environment.

Matters of national importance (section 6)

Matters of national importance identify parts of the environment that New Zealanders hold in particularly high regard which must be recognised and provided for, including:

• the natural character of the coastal environment, wetlands, lakes and rivers, and public access to those resources
• natural features and landscapes
• significant indigenous vegetation and habitats
• the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and other taonga
• historic heritage.

Historic Heritage means those natural and physical resources that contribute to an understanding and appreciation of New Zealand's history and cultures, deriving from archaeological, architectural, cultural, historic, scientific and technological qualities. It includes historic sites, structures, places, and areas; archaeological sites; sites of significance to Maori, including wahi tapu; and surroundings associated with the natural and physical resources.

Other matters (section 7)

The RMA specifies a number of other matters that decision-makers must have particular regard to (see Appendix One). These include:

• kaitiakitanga: The exercise of guardianship by the tangata whenua of an area in accordance with tikanga Maori in relation to natural and physical resources
• the ethic of stewardship
• the efficient use and development of natural and physical resources
• the efficiency of the end use of electricity
• the maintenance and enhancement of amenity values
• the intrinsic values of ecosystems
• the maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment
• any finite characteristics and natural and physical resources
• the protection of the habitat of trout and salmon
• the effect of climate change
• the benefits to be derived from the use and development of renewable energy.

What 'sustainable management' means in practice

The RMA establishes a framework within which the environmental effects of our activities can be identified and properly dealt with. It is expected that people will seek to provide for their own social, economic, and cultural wellbeing and for their health and safety. The RMA does require people to consider the effects of pursuing those interests on the matters outlined in (a), (b) and (c) above. Terms such as natural and physical resources and the environment are defined very broadly in the RMA. The former includes land, water, air, soil, minerals, energy, all forms of plants and animals, and all structures. The environment includes people and communities as well as what we usually think of as 'natural' ecosystems. The definition of environment recognises that as humans we value it on our own terms. The definition of effect contained in Section 3 of the RMA also shows the legislation's wide-ranging interests. It includes:

• any positive or adverse effect
• any temporary or permanent effect
• any past, present or future effect
• any cumulative effect
• any potential effect of high probability
• any potential effect of low probability but with a high potential impact.

The Pressure - State - Response Model

The PSR model has initially been developed by the OECD to structure its work on environmental policies and reporting. It considers that: human activities exert pressures on the environment and affect its quality and the quantity of natural resources ("state"); society responds to these changes through environmental, general economic and sectoral policies and through changes in awareness and behaviour ("societal response").

• The PSR model highlights these cause-effect relationships, and helps decision makers and the public see environmental, economic, and other issues as interconnected. It thus provides a means of selecting and organising indicators (or state of the environment reports) in a way useful for decision-makers and the public, and of ensuring that nothing important has been overlooked.
• The PSR model has the advantage of being one of the easiest frameworks to understand and use, and of being neutral in the sense that it just says which linkages exist, and not whether these have negative or positive impacts. This should however not obscure the view of more complex relationships in ecosystems, and in environment-economy and environment-social interactions.
• Environmental pressures describe pressures from human activities exerted on the environment, including natural resources. "Pressures" here cover underlying or indirect pressures (i.e. human activities themselves and trends and patterns of environmental significance) as well as proximate or direct pressures (i.e. the use of resources and the discharge of pollutants and waste materials). Indicators of environmental pressures are closely related to production and consumption patterns; they often reflect emission or resource use intensities, along with related trends and changes over a given period. They can be used to show progress in decoupling economic activities from related environmental pressures, or in meeting national objectives and international commitments (e.g. emission reduction targets).
• Environmental conditions relate to the quality of the environment and the quality and quantity of natural resources. As such they reflect the ultimate objective of environmental policies. Indicators of environmental conditions are designed to give an overview of the situation (the state) concerning the environment and its development over time. Examples of indicators of environmental conditions are: concentration of pollutants in environmental media, exceedance of critical loads, population exposure to certain levels of pollution or degraded environmental quality and related effects on health, the status of wildlife and ecosystems and of natural resource stocks. In practice, measuring environmental conditions can be difficult or very costly. Therefore, environmental pressures are often measured instead as a substitute.

  Societal responses show the extent to which society responds to environmental concerns. They refer to individual and collective actions and reactions, intended to:

  • mitigate, adapt to or prevent human-induced negative effects on the environment;
  • halt or reverse environmental damage already inflicted;
  • preserve and conserve nature and natural resources.

• Examples of indicators of societal responses are environmental expenditure, environment-related taxes and subsidies, price structures, market shares of environmentally friendly goods and services, pollution abatement rates, waste recycling rates, enforcement and compliance activities. In practice, indicators mostly relate to abatement and control measures; those showing preventive and integrative measures and actions are more difficult to obtain.