Research Commons
      • Browse 
        • Communities & Collections
        • Titles
        • Authors
        • By Issue Date
        • Subjects
        • Types
        • Series
      • Help 
        • About
        • Collection Policy
        • OA Mandate Guidelines
        • Guidelines FAQ
        • Contact Us
      • My Account 
        • Sign In
        • Register
      View Item 
      •   Research Commons
      • University of Waikato Research
      • Law
      • Law Papers
      • View Item
      •   Research Commons
      • University of Waikato Research
      • Law
      • Law Papers
      • View Item
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

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

      Giles, Hilke; Barton, Barry
      Thumbnail
      Files
      Giles Barton Adaptive Management under RMA NZJEL Vol24 2020.pdf
      Published version, 527.7Kb
      Find in your library  
      Citation
      Export citation
      Giles, H., & Barton, B. (2020). Adaptive management under the RMA: the tension between finality and flexibility. New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law, 24, 1–33.
      Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/14576
      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.
      Date
      2020
      Type
      Journal Article
      Publisher
      University of Auckland
      Rights
      This article is published in the New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law. © New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law. Used with permission.
      Collections
      • Law Papers [303]
      Show full item record  

      Usage

      Downloads, last 12 months
      271
       
       

      Usage Statistics

      For this itemFor all of Research Commons

      The University of Waikato - Te Whare Wānanga o WaikatoFeedback and RequestsCopyright and Legal Statement