http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/155810/highway-threatens-killer-worm

Take a look at this article which raises classic planning issues in an unusual form.

What do you think?

 The Census of Marine Life has just announced the publication a new document entitled Scientific Results to Support the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Marine Life. The report can help marine planners, resource managers and policy makers to craft science-based policy. It summarizes the discoveries, tools and technologies from the decade-long Census of Marine Life. Included are examples and data that can inform decisions about ecosystem and species level protection.  It discusses findings about marine habitat degradation and rehabilitation and introduces Census-developed tools to identify biodiversity hotspots and large-scale ecological patterns and analyze distributions of species over time and space. 

Even if you are not a policy-maker or marine planner, the report provides a wonderful view on the majesty and mystery of life in the oceans.  It is well supported by maps and illustrations which help to give a much greater appreciation of marine biodiversity.  

The report is available for download from http://www.coml.org/policy-report. 

In December last year the nations of the world met at Copenhagen to form global strategy and policy on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit predicted global warming.  The meeting, known as the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference ( en.wiipedia.org.wiki/2009_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference) was a disaster, as developed and developing countries faught about fundamentals.

A reconvening of the Copenhagen talks is happening this year, from 29th November to 10 December, known as the 16th session of the conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change.unfccc.int/2860.php  

Forests have been one of the most significant biomes in earth history.  They were the original source of the fossil fuels that we now burn as coal, oil and gas, while the tropical forests of the Amazon, West Africa and tropical Asia support the richest biodiversity on earth.  Forests help to reduce or prevent soil erosion and protect water resources.  The Amazon forest appears to have a role in the circulation of earth's atmosphere.  Since the rise of farming some 8 to 10,000 years ago, forests have been cleared for farmland and pasture throughout the northern hemisphere.  And within the last few decades millions of acres of tropical forests have suffered the same fate as  result of timber extraction or clearance for the plantation of tropical crops such as tea, coffee, cocoa or oil palms. 

Native New Zealand has shared the same fate.  85% of New Zealand was forested before the arrival of human beings.  With the arrival of human beings, New Zealand's forest cover has shrunk to 23% of land cover. 

However, the Economist, a well respected international magazine, recently published an interesting and heartening article on forests.  According to the Economist  the relative decline in forest destruction that has flattened in the past few years and there are signs that countries around the world are restoring forests (as in northern hemisphere countries such as Canada, the US, Sweden, Norway and Finland, or reducing the wholesale destruction of forests  (http://www.economist.com/node/17093495?story_id=17093495&fsrc=scn/tw/te/rss/pe ).

    If you want to contemplate the mother of all clean ups, have a look at some of the news surrounding the latest BP spill in the Gulf of Mexixo. It provides startling context to the concept of remediation. How can damage on this scale be addressed, what are the mechanisms and which nations and corporates are in a position to provide immediate and effective response? What capacity exists in New Zealand to respond to such a spill?  What would the effects be of a similar catastrophe, for instance on the Taranaki coast, or in Northland?  In a situation like this what is a reasonable response, and what is a reasonable sanction?

For coverage of the spill and details of consequences see: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10642777

Ideas?

Over Easter we received the very pleasing news that a new four year degree in Environmental Planning has been approved and will be offered at Waikato in 2011. This presents an excellent opportunity for those who wish to pursue a career in environmental planning.

The degree has a unique structure which combines dedicated planning papers with "planning stream" choices which enable students to focus upon areas of interests. Supporting streams include coastal and marine environments, terrestrial environments and society politics and the environment. More information will be available from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences administration offices as the degree rolls out. We will also be introducing further aspects on this blog.

The recent debate about farming cows in enclosures has taken another turn with the Minister for the Environment calling in the discharge consents at the heart of this matter.The Beehive website records that  consent applications have been received from Southdown Holdings Ltd, Williamson Holdings Ltd, and Five Rivers Ltd and involve nearly 18,000 cows being housed eight months of the year on farms totalling a land area of 8555 hectares, holding ponds totalling 77 million litres and discharges of 1,743,000 litres of effluent per day.

Godwit in flight, pwallace 2009    

 In 2008 Birdlife International updated its comprehensive assessment State of the world’s birds. The report documents a global situation with some notable conservation successes, but generally characterised by continuing species extinction. It records thata total of 153 bird species is believed to have become extinct since 1500 AD, with 18 species lost in the last quarter of the twentieth century and three more known or suspected to have gone extinct since 2000. It is assessed that 1,226 species (one in eight of the total) were considered threatened with extinction. (BirdLife International State of the world’s birds 2008: indicators for our changing world (United Kingdom: BirdLife International, 2008). http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/index.html