Wetlands and 'growthmania' in New Zealand

Abstract

Wetlands are among the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. In New Zealand, only nine percent of the original wetland resource remains. It is argued that the summum bonum of economic growth has caused this large-scale depletion, because markets are indifferent to scale and equity. The pervasiveness of market ideology has resulted in fragmented and largely inadequate policy to deal with environmental 'problems'. In the thesis, it is shown that pro-development values, to the exclusion of ecological values, have contributed to depletion. These values still prevail, though the emergence of the conservation movement has drawn attention to the plight of wetlands, and a preservationist stance toward wetlands has been adopted in recent legislation. The Resource Management Act is now the key law for the management of wetlands in New Zealand. It represents a curious meeting of market ideology and the concept of sustainability. Some detail is presented in the thesis on the provisions of the Resource Management Act that affect wetlands. It is argued that the mood-setting tenor of this Act presents opportunities for postmodern, community-based plans for wetlands. Where these plans express an ethic of stewardship toward wetlands, there is the possibility for ecological limits to be set to constrain economic growth within a sustainable scale.