Biodiversity
“Surely we have a responsibility to leave for future generations a planet that is healthy and habitable by all species.”
– Sir David Attenborough
Pressures associated with changing land use, climate change and invasive species are causing decline, even when legal protection and implementation measures are in place. Today’s challenges will be compounded by issues like climate change, and increasing competition for land and water use.
Pollinators, including bees and butterflies, provide significant environmental and economic benefits to agricultural and natural ecosystems, including adding diversity and productivity to food crops. Our indigenous biodiversity is critical for other industries such as tourism.
We know that many visitors say our spectacular landscapes, natural scenery, flora and fauna are key factors in their choice to visit Aotearoa. Almost two-thirds of New Zealand’s rare and ‘naturally uncommon’ ecosystems are threatened. We need to be courageous as we create new ways to balance human activity with protection of our endemic biodiversity.
We’re already working collaboratively, but to really make a difference we need to strengthen our partnerships and take the lead. We need to be courageous; we’re already leading the way for pest management and species revitalisation but we need to look beyond that to create change.
