Roadside scenery

Resource Management

Resource management identifies the natural environment as a resource that needs to be protected and restored.

Resource management regards the natural environment as a resource and recognises the need for human impact on this resource to be managed in a way that is sustainable.

New Zealand has a Resource Management Act (1991) that is there to protect our natural resources so that we will be able to provide future generations with social, economic and cultural wellbeing. The Act also has a role in safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems.

Resource management affects the way we farm, the way we build, how we deal with our waste and how we prevent pollution. By following sustainable practices, we hope to preserve our natural environment for the future.

Resource management also covers the need to remedy any adverse effects human activity has had on the environment and, where possible, restore the environment to its original state before humans arrived in New Zealand.