Russel Norman – NZ’s Environment Report Card is Alarming – Greenpeace

The Government’s three-yearly environment report card, Our Environment 2025, documents the rapid and dramatic decline of nature in Aotearoa, Greenpeace says.

“The report documents the alarming decline of nature in Aotearoa, driven by activities such as industrial dairying and fishing, and highlights the desperate need for strong Government regulation to protect nature from more harm”, says Dr. Russel Norman, Greenpeace Aotearoa Executive Director.

“Here are a few of the lowlights: There is only a single species of indigenous bat that is NOT at risk of extinction; only a single species of frog NOT at risk of extinction; just 22% of birds are safe from extinction; over 2,000kg of protected corals pulled up by commercial fishing nets. And on and on the list goes.

“We are in a biodiversity crash dive, driven by industrial exploitation combined with inadequate government regulation to protect nature.

“The very foundations of life in Aotearoa – our food systems, our drinking water, and the wildlife we share the country with are on the brink. Native species and ecosystems are on the verge of collapse.

“Successive governments have allowed profiteering corporations to pollute, exploit, and degrade the environment for decades. And now, everyday New Zealanders are paying the price – through unsafe drinking water, eroding land, unswimmable rivers, depleted fish numbers, and native wildlife that are slipping away. This crisis is political, it’s systemic, and it’s urgent.

“We have had far too few regulations to protect nature and too much freedom to destroy it for profit.

“At a time when we need bold action, the Luxon Government is opening the door for polluters to profit while nature collapses.

“The Government needs to repeal the fast track act, and abandon the RMA reforms. These changes will only make the crisis worse – handing even more power to corporations to fast-track destruction and block environmental protections,” says Norman.

Terrestrial (p.23-25)

• Only 6% of indigenous reptile species are NOT threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. 72% of reptile species have declining populations.
• Only 22% of indigenous terrestrial bird species are NOT threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. And 22% of species have declining populations.
• Only 1 indigenous bat species (out of 5) is NOT threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. And only one species has an increasing population.
• Only 1 indigenous frog species (out of 14) is NOT threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. 12 species have declining populations.
• Native ecosystems continue to be destroyed – 88,000 hectares lost between 1996 and 2018.

• Half of all lakes are in poor health, contaminated by excess nutrients. Only a third of lakes are in good or very good health (pg. 31).
• Most freshwater-dependent birds threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction
• 76% of freshwater fish are threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with 63% of fish populations in decline (37)
• Half of freshwater monitoring sites failed to meet e.coli standard (ie fecal contamination)
• Only 10% of our wetlands remain yet they continue to be drained and degraded for livestock farming (pg 34).
• At least 48 percent of the river network is at least partially inaccessible to migratory fish, such as Tuna/eel though a further 36 percent has not yet been assessed and could be inaccessible (pg 36).
• Nitrate contamination in groundwater is increasing in nearly half of monitored sites (47%) – pg 31
• Severely polluted rivers found in intensive dairy regions – Canterbury, Waikato and Southland (see map pg 31)
• 12% of groundwater monitoring sites failed nitrate drinking water standard (ie the 50 year old WHO standard that is very high compared with modern evidence)
• 45% of entire river length unsafe for swimming, (even though much of this length is in the high country where industries have very little presence)

• 91% of indigenous seabirds are threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened (p.46).
• 22 percent of indigenous marine mammal species (10 of 49) were threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened (p.46).
• Estimated 3,613 seabirds and 476 fur seals were caught in trawling and longline fisheries in one year (p.43)
• 2,073 kilograms of protected coral were reported as caught in one year (p.43)
• 12% of assessed fish stocks (19 of 152) were overfished or depleted in 2023, including some stock of black cardinalfish, orange roughy and scallops. FIve stocks had collapsed. (p.43)
• 15 Hector’s dolphins deaths due to commercial bycatch in 2023-24 (up from usual 0-5 per year). (p.43)
• Few biogenic habitats (like kelp forests, seagrass meadows and sponge gardens) are monitored in New Zealand, but most that are have experienced loss or damage. (p.48)

• Marine heatwaves have become more frequent, intense and longer-lasting, including. In 2022, New Zealand experienced a record number of marine heatwave days, and the two longest and most intense marine heatwaves on record in some locations. (pg 44)
• Marine heatwaves have caused unusual fish migrations, severe bleaching and necrosis of sponges, large losses of farmed salmon and southern bull kelp (rimurapa), and likely contributed to the mass mortality of blue penguins (kororā) in the Bay of Plenty pg 65
• In some areas sea level is expected to rise 20 to 30 centimetres by 2050 compared with 2005 levels. For many parts of the country, a 30-centimetre rise is a threshold for extreme flooding, above which a 100-year coastal storm becomes an annual event (pg 45)
• In 2021, extreme rainfall events that caused flooding in Canterbury were 10 to 15 percent more intense because of climate change. Similarly, extreme weather and associated flooding on the West Coast in 2021 were nearly 10 percent more intense due to climate change (pg 62)
• The frequency of extreme temperature events in New Zealand has increased two to threefold due to human influence since pre-industrial times (pg 62)
• Total glacier ice volumes in New Zealand decreased 35 percent, and the rate of annual loss increased between 1978 and 2020 pg 64

• Without changes to land-use, erosion rates are predicted to worsen with climate change. Sediment loads to waterways are expected to increase by up to 233% by 2090 (pg 18)
• Almost half (49%) of soil at monitored sites is compacted (pg 19)
• Emerging evidence is finding soils may be contaminated with microplastics (pg 20)
• Microplastics are widespread throughout the marine environment, and they accumulate in animals as they move up the food chain. Found in many fish species eaten by humans and in green- lipped mussels. (p.42)
• 67% of items counted in Litter Intelligence were plastic, hazardous plastic additives have been detected in debris in NZ beaches. (p.42)
• In 2019, air pollution was a factor in 3,239 premature deaths,12,653 cases of childhood asthma 13,237 hospitalisations. Air pollution from motor vehicles was associated with 71 percent of these hospitalisations and 69 percent of premature deaths. (pg 68)
• Premature deaths associated with NO2 exposure from motor vehicle emissions increased 28 percent, and hospitalisations increased 39 percent. (68)
• Social costs resulting from the health impacts associated with air pollution were estimated at $15.3 billion for the year 2019, with 69 percent of these costs associated with air pollution from motor vehicles (pg 68)
• As a result of climate change there is an increasing risk that insect-spread viruses like the Zika virus and dengue fever will be introduced from overseas and locally transmitted