Both sides now-- Weltanschauung and offset mitigation : environmental decision making in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Management, Massey University, New Zealand
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Date
2012
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Massey University
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Abstract
Nature and natural systems are characterised as a complex and poorly understood web
of interrelated functions, beset with uncertainty. Many of the ‘services’ that nature
provides to humans depend on the totality of these functions in a way that defies
attempts to analyse their components. To attempt to define a view in terms of
ecological functions would be akin to defining Turner’s seascapes in terms of the
quantity of pigments used. Nature, natural systems and ecological concepts are then
seen to be based on, and understood in terms of, social rather than biological systems.
Widely differing views are also held on the ethics and desirability of basing economic
growth on the use of natural resources by humans. It is no surprise then, that when
these two subjects combine, as they do when considering the allocation of natural
resources, the situation can be seen to have all the characteristics of a messy problem.
The concept of sustainability underpins New Zealand’s Resource Management Act
1991. This principle is operationalized through the terms and conditions on resource
use consents granted by local authorities. Despite efforts to avoid or mitigate negative
environmental impacts, outcomes are frequently perceived as inequitable, and
detrimental to the natural environment. An attempt to alleviate this has been the use of
the concept of offset mitigation, where an unavoidable ecological loss at one site is
compensated for by an equivalent gain elsewhere. To date this technique has not been
widely used in New Zealand, but where it has, the perception of inequity remains.
The thesis considers the hypothesis that perceptions of inequality in the process, and
outcome, of resource consent applications involving offset mitigation, derive from a
failure to incorporate the Weltanschauung of all actors. The existence of divergent
Weltanschauung between actor classes is postulated, and the implications of this for
problem solving and consensus building considered. Resource consents involving
offset mitigation over the last ten years were identified. All actors involved in these
applications were surveyed. Their experience and perceptions relating to the
environment, the use of natural resources, and citizen participation in the process was
sought. Results obtained suggested a qualitatively different Weltanschauung is held by
submitters opposing the consent, from those of other actor groups. The results also
indicated that submitters had a quantitatively different opinion of the equity of the
process. The conclusion is drawn that the current resource consent process, by failing to
incorporate the different Weltanschauung of all actors, cannot achieve an equitable
exchange in cases of offset mitigation.
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Keywords
Environmental management, Environmental permits, Decision-making, RMA, Offset mitigation, Weltanschauung, Worldview, New Zealand