In New Zealand total annual funding allows 15 percent of the 2,400 threatened species to be targeted for management. Although management costs are crucial to a conservation organisation's ability to achieve its goals, estimates of costs are not usually included in applications for funding or the...

Since 2000 six standardised biennial public surveys of the state of the New Zealand environment have been undertaken. A fresh water case study was included in the 2010 postal survey and in an electronic survey. Desirable futures for New Zealand's fresh water resources, sources of damage to...

Conservation of species is challenging, and there is continuing interest in finding more effective means to achieve conservation goals. State provision of conservation occurs in many countries, alongside a growing range of alternative providers including Not For Profit organisations and the...

MoRST is evaluating the Environmental Research output class of the Public Good Science Fund to identify inter alia the impacts of Environmental RS&T spending. Three specific questions are: How effective has the funding on Environmental RS&T been? Is Environmental RS&T having a positive effect by...

MoRST is performing an evaluation of the funds invested in environmental research. The two case studies discussed in this paper contribute to the ongoing decision-making about this investment. Substantial funds have been invested in both research programmes identified. Because the main benefits...

The River Values Assessment System (RiVAS and RiVAS+) are tools that enable regional councils and others to ‘objectively’ and systematically evaluate rivers in their regions for their relative importance across the range of river values (e.g., native birds, irrigation and tangata whenau)....

In New Zealand, regional councils have the task of sustainably managing rivers and their flows. In trying to achieve this task they face enormous challenges including the need to allocate flows amongst often highly disparate in- (e.g., angling, kayaking, native fish and birds) and out-of-river...

Many researchers have noted that not only natural ecosystems but also landscapes actively modified by humans (engineered or designed ecosystems) can significantly impact the level of ecosystem goods and service available thereby impacting on human and social welfare. In New Zealand, agriculture...