What the researchers call for
More needs to be done to reverse the plight of the country’s dwindling freshwater species, researchers say. The Society for Conservation Biology’s new report, Diagnosis and Cure, examines the decline of species living in fresh waterways and suggests solutions, including a law overhaul and improvements to policy, monitoring and management.
The authors noted that threequarters of the country’s native freshwater fish, mussel and crayfish species were now listed as threatened with extinction, something they blame on excessive nutrient run-off from over-intensive agriculture, extraction of water, river engineering, and human and industrial waste discharged into waterways.
The researchers also cited commercial exploitation and exportation of many threatened and endemic species.
One of the authors, Dr Mike Joy of Massey University’s Institute of Agriculture and Environment, said the problems would be exacerbated by government plans to increase agricultural production.
“There are even plans to increase development of our rivers and wetlands, exacerbating these problems,” he said.
“It [fresh water quality] is a taonga of paramount importance and valued for its contribution to biodiversity, recreation, the economy and the overall wellbeing of New Zealanders.”
The Government has set out core priorities and objectives to improve freshwater management in the new National Policy Statement (NPS) for Freshwater Management. This introduced new minimum or “bottom line” requirements that must be achieved so the water quality was suitable for ecosystem and human health, and included a range of other actions for regional councils.
Change legislation to adequately protect native and endemic fish species and invertebrates, including those harvested commercially and recreationally.
Protect habitat critical to the survival of New Zealand’s freshwater species.
Include river habitat to protect ecosystem health in the National Objectives Framework for the National Policy Statement on freshwater.
The authors argued the NPS did not go far enough and laid out six priorities to tackle the issue, including changing legislation to “adequately protect” native and endemic fish species and invertebrates, and preserve their habitats, including wetlands.
However, a Ministry for the Environment spokesman said three of the six identified priorities had been addressed in part in the NPS, which was being expanded. The additions would address sediment for lakes and rivers, and consider what attributes were
Hnzherald.co.nz Read the full report online here: goo.gl/ZIlzpC
Establish monitoring and recovery plans for New Zealand’s threatened freshwater invertebrate fauna.
Develop policy and best management practices for freshwater catchments, which includes wetlands, estuaries and groundwater ecosystems.
Establish, improve and maintain appropriately wide riparian zones that connect across entire water catchments. appropriate for wetlands.
Dr John Quinn, the National Institute for Water and Atmosphere’s chief scientist for freshwater and estuaries, agreed with the “broad direction” of the proposed priorities.
“It’s when we start looking at how we can get there that things get more challenging,” he said.
“Knowledge about critical habitats is crucial to successful action to enhance biodiversity, but we still have many important knowledge gaps that policy will have to deal with.”
He pointed out it had only been in the past two years that Niwa researchers had identified the critical spawning habitats of two of the country’s largest freshwater native fish, lamprey and giant kokopu.