12 December 2013 Public perception of environment positive, but room for concern, especially for water

Lincoln University has released the findings of its 7th biennial (now triennial) survey, Public Perceptions of New Zealand's Environment. The survey found, on average, that New Zealanders perceive the state of the natural environment to be adequate or good; that New Zealand is perceived to be ‘clean and green’; and that, as individuals, the respondents considered themselves to have good knowledge about the environment.

The survey, which remains the only long-running type of its kind in the world, uses a Pressure-State-Response framework to assess public perceptions. Sets of questions are designed to assess perceptions with regard to the state of the environment, resource management response, and environmental pressures.

The authors of the 110 page survey – Professor Ken Hughey, Professor Geoff Kerr, and Professor Ross Cullen, all of Lincoln University – asked questions across a wide range of environmental categories; such as air quality, native plants and animals, water, biodiversity, soils, beaches, and marine reserves.

With regard to the perceived state of the New Zealand environment, the survey found that air, native bush and forests were considered to be in the best condition, while rivers and lakes, and marine fisheries were perceived to be in the worst state.

While the management of all components of the environment was considered to be adequate to good (and better than other developed countries), national parks rated most highly. The worst managed environments were perceived to be rivers, lakes, and groundwater; largely on account of very negative perceptions concerning the management of farm effluent and runoff. In fact, over half of the respondents deemed ‘farming’ to be one of the three main causes of damage to freshwater, with the other two being ‘sewage and stormwater’ and ‘industrial activities’.

With this in mind, water related issues were perceived to be the most important problem facing the New Zealand environment, with respondents overall indicating a belief that growth in production and consumption, as well as an intensification of activities such as farming, urban development and forestry are putting increasing pressure on the environment. Interestingly, tourism was rated second behind pests and weeds as a major cause of damage to national parks.

According to Professor Hughey, one big surprise of the survey was the disparity between the respondents’ perception of the state of New Zealand’s biodiversity compared to reality.

“Most respondents considered the condition of New Zealand’s native plants and animals to be ‘adequate’ or ‘good’, yet past reports from organisations such as DOC and the Ministry for the Environment suggest otherwise, and significantly so,” says Professor Hughey.

“Also of interest within the survey were results suggesting that, while some environment-enhancing activities are widely adopted (such as recycling household waste), relatively few respondents appear to involve themselves with activities such as restoration or replanting of the natural environment, or participate in environmental organisations, hearings or consent processes,” he said.

The survey suggested some differences in perceptions relative to ethnicity. While there was no significant difference between NZ Europeans and Maori when it came to perceptions as to the causes of air pollution, NZ Europeans were more likely than Maori to identify farming as the chief cause of damage to fresh waters or to identify pests and weeds as a source of damage. Interestingly, however, ethnicities other than Maori or NZ European were more likely to identify hazardous chemicals as a cause of environmental damage to fresh waters.

As with past surveys, the authors took the opportunity to research two case studies of contemporary interest.

The first case study surveyed perceptions regarding the state and management of freshwater fish, particularly with regard to whitebait. The survey is of particular interest due to very little published information available on the perceived impact of whitebaiting on the fishery.

While only some 2.5% of respondents identified themselves as whitebaiters, a large proportion of survey respondents considered whitebait to be either extremely threatened (39%) or somewhat threatened (55%). The study did find some difference between whitebaiters and non-whitebaiters, but, overall, when considering a range of seven management options, removing traps from nets, having a daily catch limit, and shortening the whitebait season were preferred. It is hoped the results will provide some guidance for policymakers.
 
The second case study explored perceptions regarding a range of animals in New Zealand, both native and exotic. More specifically, the aim was to assess the perceived importance of having healthy numbers of each animal in the wild and the extent to which each animal might be deemed a positive symbol of New Zealand.

Of the nineteen animals surveyed, the native species kiwi, kakapo, Hectors and Maui dolphins, giant weta, and whitebait rated highest in both importance and symbolism. Trout proved to be the highest ranked of the introduced species in both categories and was included within the range of preferred native animals. Notably, wild cats rated second lowest for importance and lowest overall for symbolism.

“The importance and symbolism case study threw up the odd interesting result that perhaps begs for some explanation. However, of note, the ‘big four’ game animals of deer, chamois, pig and tahr sit somewhere between the highly ranked native and the poorly ranked ‘pest’ species. This is possibly a reflection of the contemporary debate about whether these animals are a pest or a resource,” says Professor Hughey.

Historically the Public Perceptions of New Zealand’s Environment survey has gone some way to guide policymakers. The 2013 survey concluded by emphasising the need to ensure that both facts and perceptions are aligned so as to ensure sound policy and the most appropriate and effective allocation of resources.