title: Adaptive management under the RMA: the tension between finality and flexibility

authors: Giles, Hilke

subjects: environmental law

abstract: Adaptive management is commonly used to manage activities that require resource consents under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) that have uncertain, complex and potentially significant environmental effects. This article examines the tension between the finality of decision-making under the RMA and the need for flexibility in adaptively managing the activity over the consent term. It explores the concept of adaptive management, the matters of general legal principle that it raises, and the approach to it taken in the courts. It offers generic insights that can be used to develop guidance for practitioners involved in the resource consent process, particularly for drafting environmental management plans. It concludes that the RMA provides legal mechanisms that accommodate all steps of the adaptive management process, but that, in practice, these mechanisms are not always used effectively. Consents often lack clear criteria and procedures for the modification of environmental management plans, for staged developments, and for step-back from activities that turn out to have unacceptable adverse effects. Furthermore, when adverse effects are potentially irreversible, so that the experimentation inherent in adaptive management is impossible, other management approaches are required. Notwithstanding these difficulties, adaptive management is a beneficial approach to complex projects that need ongoing adjustment and flexibility beyond the fixed requirements imposed in conventional resource consent conditions.

text: Adaptive management under the RMA: the tension between finality and flexibility Adaptive management is commonly used to manage activities that require resource consents under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) that have uncertain, complex and potentially significant environmental effects. This article examines the tension between the finality of decision-making under the RMA and the need for flexibility in adaptively managing the activity over the consent term. It explores the concept of adaptive management, the matters of general legal principle that it raises, and the approach to it taken in the courts. It offers generic insights that can be used to develop guidance for practitioners involved in the resource consent process, particularly for drafting environmental management plans. It concludes that the RMA provides legal mechanisms that accommodate all steps of the adaptive management process, but that, in practice, these mechanisms are not always used effectively. Consents often lack clear criteria and procedures for the modification of environmental management plans, for staged developments, and for step-back from activities that turn out to have unacceptable adverse effects. Furthermore, when adverse effects are potentially irreversible, so that the experimentation inherent in adaptive management is impossible, other management approaches are required. Notwithstanding these difficulties, adaptive management is a beneficial approach to complex projects that need ongoing adjustment and flexibility beyond the fixed requirements imposed in conventional resource consent conditions.

year: 2020

title: Permafrost thermal regime from two 30-m deep boreholes in southern victoria land, Antarctica

authors: Guglielmin, Mauro

subjects: active layer

abstract: Two 30-m deep permafrost temperature-monitoring boreholes were installed in bedrock, one at Marble Point and one in the Wright Valley, in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. A soil climate-monitoring station in till is located near each borehole. The ground surface temperature (GST) was highly correlated with the air temperature at both sites in 2008. Thermal offsets were small (< 1 °C) in the till and negligible in the boreholes. The active layer was thicker in the boreholes than in the till, presumably because of the higher thermal diffusivity of the rock. The measured depth of zero annual temperature amplitude was around 27 m at Wright Valley and 25 m at Marble Point. Permafrost thickness was estimated at about 680 m at Wright Valley and 490 m at Marble Point. The GST history, reconstructed using an inversion procedure, suggests a slight cooling from 1998 to 2003 followed by a slight warming to 2008. Longer temperature records or deeper boreholes would be required to establish if long-term climate change has occurred.

text: Permafrost thermal regime from two 30-m deep boreholes in southern victoria land, Antarctica Two 30-m deep permafrost temperature-monitoring boreholes were installed in bedrock, one at Marble Point and one in the Wright Valley, in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. A soil climate-monitoring station in till is located near each borehole. The ground surface temperature (GST) was highly correlated with the air temperature at both sites in 2008. Thermal offsets were small (< 1 °C) in the till and negligible in the boreholes. The active layer was thicker in the boreholes than in the till, presumably because of the higher thermal diffusivity of the rock. The measured depth of zero annual temperature amplitude was around 27 m at Wright Valley and 25 m at Marble Point. Permafrost thickness was estimated at about 680 m at Wright Valley and 490 m at Marble Point. The GST history, reconstructed using an inversion procedure, suggests a slight cooling from 1998 to 2003 followed by a slight warming to 2008. Longer temperature records or deeper boreholes would be required to establish if long-term climate change has occurred.

year: 2011

title: Maori-medium education: current issues and challenges.

authors: May, Stephen

subjects: Maori-medium education

abstract: This paper summarises the key issues and challenges that have emerged from a
recent major report by the authors on Maori-medium education in Aotearoa/New
Zealand. The discussion is situated within a wider international analysis of
bilingual/immersion programmes, including heritage language programmes for
indigenous peoples. Key issues explored in the paper include the negotiation of,
and occasional tension between, the wider goals of indigenous Maori language
revitalisation and the successful achievement of bilingualism and biliteracy in
Maori-medium educational contexts. Issues to do with current pedagogy, staffing
and resourcing of Maori-medium programmes are also examined. The paper
concludes with suggestions for the ongoing development and extension of Maori-medium education.

text: Maori-medium education: current issues and challenges. This paper summarises the key issues and challenges that have emerged from a
recent major report by the authors on Maori-medium education in Aotearoa/New
Zealand. The discussion is situated within a wider international analysis of
bilingual/immersion programmes, including heritage language programmes for
indigenous peoples. Key issues explored in the paper include the negotiation of,
and occasional tension between, the wider goals of indigenous Maori language
revitalisation and the successful achievement of bilingualism and biliteracy in
Maori-medium educational contexts. Issues to do with current pedagogy, staffing
and resourcing of Maori-medium programmes are also examined. The paper
concludes with suggestions for the ongoing development and extension of Maori-medium education.

year: 2005-01-01