Represent NZ Residues Policy Information International Sector Performance Sustainability Rural Access to services Research Rural Bulletin Legislation Publications Commentary on the Process Because of the short time between the start of the Waipaoa project and the preparation of this report, it is not yet possible to determine whether a multistakeholder approach will be successful in the long-term in providing the community with useable strategies for dealing with externally imposed change.
Any final evaluation is still premature.
At this point, however, it is useful to discuss the way the principles underlying the multistakeholder approach were used in the Waipaoa example and how they were modified to meet the needs of the participants. Therefore change will often be related to the environment and responses to change must also take the environment into account. However, while the ecosystem may, on the face of it, be a logical basis for understanding certain environmental processes, these processes do not necessarily coincide with either political boundaries or with relevant social, or cultural linkages. Any environmental management plan, therefore, needs to be relevant to the specific locality and its particular needs and must be flexible rather than prescriptive to allow for full community participation and commitment. This was so in this particular case study.