4. THE POST-REFORM CHALLENGE: INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The removal of subsidies is a necessary, but not sufficient, approach to addressing the environmental impacts of agriculture. To achieve sustained environmental benefits, agricultural policies also need to be coordinated with policies affecting macroeconomic conditions, environmental management, and disaster relief, among others. Since 1990, New Zealand has made considerable progress in developing a coordinated and balanced set of policies with the core objective of sustainable use and development of the nation's natural resources.
As noted above, the principle of sustainable management is embodied in the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). Under the RMA, regional and district councils are developing policies, in consultation with their communities, to address soil conservation issues, water quality monitoring and control, among other agri-environmental issues.
The OECD Polluter Pays Principle is generally applied in New Zealand. Regional councils are increasingly requiring payment for all administrative costs associated with environmental permits (Sinner et al, 1995). The reduction of Government assistance in the funding of pest management, flood control and land drainage programmes has now required an increase in user-pay funding, through special property tax assessments on the landowners who benefit. In some cases, regional councils charge for technical advice, including assistance with soil conservation planning. This is all part of a wider movement in New Zealand government towards "user-pays," ie requiring payment for services from those who benefit from them, or from those who generate the costs. This ensures that services are not demanded unless fully justified, and that the community does not pay for services required by an individual or a small group. Both objectives are consistent with the polluter pays principle.
Pest control is also a major issue in New Zealand. Some of the plants and animals European settlers brought with them have proved difficult to control, and quickly developed populations to pest levels. The Biosecurity Act 1993 provides for pest control operations under national or regional pest management strategies, which must specify the costs and benefits of control, who benefits, and proposed funding mechanisms. Any individual or group can propose a pest management strategy, which takes effect if it is approved by the Minister of Agriculture (for national strategies) or the relevant regional council.
The New Zealand Government released a position paper on sustainable agriculture in 1993, as part of a wider policy on sustainable land management. Sustainable agriculture is defined as the use of farming practices which maintain or improve the natural resource base, and any parts of the environment influenced by agriculture, are financially viable, and allow people and communities to provide for their economic and cultural well-being. The Ministry of Agriculture has undertaken a facilitation programme designed to encourage the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, and regional councils are also promoting sustainable agriculture as part of their responsibilities under the Resource Management Act. Meanwhile, grassroots "landcare", or community based, groups have been established in many parts of New Zealand. These groups have the potential to make a key contribution to sustainableagriculture, although many are still identifying their relationship with central and local government agencies.
The Government announced in May 1996 assistance for the establishment of a Landcare Trust and the establishment of a national Sustainable Land Management Advisory Group. The Landcare Trust is intended to develop a network of trained landcare, or community group, facilitators, and to provide support for small community based projects. The Sustainable Land Management Advisory Group will help to coordinate information needs and delivery systems, encourage the adoption of better land management practices, and provide feedback to Government on policy initiatives and associated land management issues.
There are several other industry-led initiatives on sustainable agriculture in New Zealand. [ For a more complete description of these initiatives, see OECD, "Voluntary, Cooperative Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture, " COM/AGR/CA/ENV/EPOC(95)118/REV1, June 1996, pp 60-65.] Project F.A.R.M.E.R. has farmers helping train other farmers in the use of computer-based decision support systems, including better monitoring and analysis of environmental and farm performance data. The project also has helped identify knowledge gaps and worked with researchers to fill them. The leaders of this project helped establish the Rural Futures Trust as a vehicle for funding Project F.A.R.M.E.R. and other farmer-led sustainable land management initiatives.
The industry-owned Dairy Research Institute has funded a project in the Waikato region to address farming impacts on water quality. In cooperation with the regional council and another research institute, dairy farmers have developed an operational definition of sustainable dairy farming, compiled a list of sustainable management practices, and designed subjective indicator scales to monitor their performance. The current phase of the project aims to convert the subjective scales into objective criteria. The New Zealand Meat Research and Development Council (also industry-owned) uses 21 privately owned farms to monitor and demonstrate to sheep and beef farmers how farm business planning and monitoring can improve performance. The Council has incorporated environmental objectives into two of the monitor farms on a pilot basis, with some funding from regional councils and the Ministry of Agriculture. These monitor farms have associated "sustainable farming community groups" which discuss issues and possible management approaches, and follow the progress of the farm.
Codes of practice have been developed by the pork industry, the logging industry, and by an agrichemical education trust initiated by leaders in the horticulture industry. Guidelines for responsible fertiliser use are being developed by the fertiliser industry, and grazing guidelines are under development by leaders in the pastoral sector.
In many of these cases, farmers are motivated not just by the desire to do the right thing, or the possibility of regulatory pressure if problems are not addressed, but also by market considerations. Farming leaders sense that consumers in New Zealand and in overseas markets are increasingly interested in how a product is produced, in addition to traditionalquality concerns. They are therefore supporting efforts to establish systems to ensure that their production systems are sustainable and that this can be demonstrated to consumers. Thus, in a variety of ways, the environmental costs and benefits of sustainable agriculture are being internalised to the production process.
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