Introduction
These Proceedings arise from a seminar that was hosted jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Manawatu Wanganui Regional Council and held in Palmerston North on 16 August 1995.
The number of organisations that are now involved in environmental monitoring at international, national, regional or local level continues to grow. Other organisations are developing and monitoring indicators of sustainable agriculture. The main purpose of this seminar was to provide an opportunity to share approaches, progress, and to discuss issues relating to environmental indicators.
The seminar was made up of four sessions. The speakers in the latter three sessions are contracted to MAF in one way or another. Thus the secondary purpose of the meeting was to report back to MAF on progress and/or plans.
Session Four was a discussion of operational research projects in the indicators area that have been funded by MAF under its 1995/96 Sustainable Agriculture Programme. At the time of the seminar these projects had only recently been approved and the discussion was about intentions rather than results. The aim was to keep others informed of what results to expect by when.
The Proceedings was always intended to be an informal document that will allow networking and information sharing to continue. A number of the contributions have been edited.
Ian Cairns has been responsible for compiling this document with the assistance of Denise Taylor and Nicole Patterson.
My thanks again to all of the speakers for contributing to the seminar.
Stuart Morriss
Manager, Rural Policy
MAF Policy
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