Goals for our Strategic Outcomes

Each group came up with goals that either reflect where they want to be by 2024, or those that reflect much longer-term goals with intermediate milestones in the next four years.

The full investment prospectuses are currently undergoing some graphic design magic but will be online soon. For now, we can show you the goals that were decided on by each scoping group after much thought and revision.

SO1: We assess our progress using a biological heritage scorecard for Aotearoa.

Guiding Principle 

We give equitable consideration and implementation of Te Ao Māori understanding, values, approaches, and opportunities.

Goals:

1. We know what & how to measure. 
2. Scorecard(s) are co-designed to be catalysts for action by key influencers.
3. We measure scorecard influence, and adapt the scorecard(s) for enduring impact and whakamanatanga (empowerment).

SO2: We empower New Zealanders to demand and enact environmental stewardship and kaitiakitanga.

By 2024 we will inspire step changes in kaitiakitanga and environmental stewardship, through:

1. Helping local communities to develop and realise their biological heritage aspirations.
2. Developing and supporting the adoption and scale out of tools, capabilities and tikanga frameworks to help agencies, sectors and organisations as they work to exemplify, encourage and enable kaitiakitanga and environmental stewardship.
3. Linking with tool and framework development in other Strategic Outcomes (SOs) to ensure that design and implementation protocols, including related engagement processes, take account of the social and cultural considerations that underpin kaitiakitanga and environmental stewardship.

Ngā Rākau Taketake – Saving Our Iconic Trees

The Challenge, in partnership with mana whenua, promote working with communities, agencies, and industry to identify and prioritise ecosystems at most risk, and to identify and employ the strategies and tools to protect them.

By 2024, our work ensures that:

1. Mātauranga Māori and kaupapa Māori research is embedded in the fight against plant pathogens, and kaitiaki are empowered to take action;
2. Communities and mana whenua are engaged and mobilised to participate in the battle against kauri dieback and myrtle rust – kō tātou;
3. Improved detection tools and an integrated surveillance system are in place, so monitoring the spread of the pathogens and diseases can inform management solutions;
4. Protocols and a prioritized action plan are established to preserve a representative collection of threatened germplasm, including both host plants and dependent species, and have preserved germplasm from priority species;
5. There is an understanding of which species and ecosystems are most at risk and what the impacts of the diseases are, so prioritisation of efforts inform better management decisions;
6. We understand the interactions between the hosts, pathogens and environment from genetic to landscape scales to help future-proof those species through resistance and resilience; and
7. New strategies and effective tools to prevent, treat, and cure the diseases that are co-designed, shared and agreed between mana whenua, communities, industry, regulatory organisations and researchers.

These goals will lead to integrated management of kauri and myrtle ecosystems based on the best science and mātauranga.

SO3: We anticipate both emerging and latent biosecurity risks, and avoid new or recurring invasions.

This investment prospectus outlines the rationale for investment in activities to address the issues outlined in Section 1 and to achieve the following 2024 Goals. 

1. Participation: Mana whenua and key participants in the New Zealand biosecurity system are active in identifying and prioritising existing, emerging, latent and recurring risks.
2. Values: We understand and prioritise biosecurity risks according to Māori values of kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and tikanga Māori; within the context of environmental, economic, social and cultural values.
3. Impact: Decision making by mana whenua and key participants is driven by a dynamic and adaptable biosecurity risk assessment framework that accounts for multiple influences (such as changes in climate, demographics, land use, trade and tourism).

SO4: We have state-of-the-art biosecurity surveillance systems.

Early detection: Our surveillance systems detect incursions early enough to allow eradication or other responses

Biodiversity monitoring: Our tools and approaches can accurately monitor changes in distribution and abundance of terrestrial and aquatic pests and native flora and fauna for effective management

Co-design: Māori co-designed surveillance systems recognise and are informed by the cultural economy

Involvement: Actively engaged NZ communities understand and support surveillance efforts that contribute to the protection of our biodiversity and well-being

Evaluation: We have the methodologies to evaluate the performance of surveillance systems and to prioritise allocation of resources

SO5 (border): We deploy novel tools, technologies and strategies for control or eradication of biotic threats, before or at the border.  

We have set five goals through to 2024 to implement our vision that define both what (impact) will be delivered and how (values).

Values

1. Give equitable consideration and implementation of Te Ao Māori understanding, values, approaches, and opportunities.
2. Support mana whenua to enable more active participation in co-design of pre- and at-border detection and prevention tools.
3. Key end users are actively participating from development to deployment of novel border risk detection and prevention tools and strategies.

Impact

1. Provide proof of concept of a co-designed tool for detection and/or prevention of a priority pest.
2. Accelerate deployment of a dynamic and adaptive tool for detection of threats in a high-risk pathway (e.g. soil).

SO5 (post-border): We deploy novel tools, technologies and strategies for control or eradication of biotic threats, after the border.

Guiding principles

1. We give effect to Te Tiriti partnership
2. We give equitable consideration and implementation of Te Ao Māori understanding, values, approaches and opportunities.
3. We value collaborative approaches.

Longer Term Aspiration

New Zealand is enabled technically, legislatively and socio-culturally to efficiently eliminate the impact of vertebrate and invertebrate pests across the country.

2024 Goals

1. Evaluate and select an exemplar invertebrate pest to eradicate or control at large scale and select novel technologies with potential to achieve a step-change.
2. Demonstrate the application of novel technologies to control or eradicate the selected invertebrate pest in order to eliminate its impacts at large scales.
3. Demonstrate the application of novel technologies¹ to eradicate vertebrate predators in order to eliminate their impacts at large scales.
4. Demonstrate at least one broadly applicable, non-fence option for defending large scale, vertebrate, multi-pest eradication sites.
5. Ensure legislative and socio-cultural licence to implement the technologies at national scale.

SO6: We quantify social-ecological linkages for use in managing, protecting and restoring land and water ecosystems.

2024 Goals

A key focus across all our goals will be on understanding and demonstrating how trade-offs in values occur spatially or across systems, over what spatial scales the values are obtained, and how this influences practical pathways to implementation. By 2024 we will have:

1.    Greater understanding of the many ways in which connections between people and nature influence resilience.

(A)   Synthesise existing knowledge, understanding and approaches to defining and communicating how social-ecological linkages nurture resilient ecosystems.

(B)   Create knowledge that describes spatial and temporal diversity in the relationships between people and nature.

2.   More meaningful ways to evaluate the non-market values of the environment to people.

(A)   Identify, quantify and connect non-market benefits of nature that under-pin the relationships between people and nature

(B)   Determine how these non-market values are degraded or enhanced in accordance with changes in biological diversity.

Within a four-year framework, we see the completion of case studies as a realistic goal, which can then be used as a starting point from which to begin conversations in other regions,

3.    Diverse, successful, practical pathways for those wanting to regenerate ecosystems and culture.

(A)  Create and operate an Adaptive Management Network (AMN) to connect and enhance the success of local regeneration efforts in Aotearoa New Zealand. The creation and growth of an effective network will be informed by knowledge generated and synthesised in Goal 1, and be used to disseminate knowledge on non-monetary values from Goal 2. Business as usual involves small local networks, or disconnected activities in a single region (e.g. many restoration groups operating in isolation within the same catchment), and our aim is to connect and scale up these efforts.

(B)  Create knowledge that will clarify pathways and remove barriers for enhanced restoration success. This will build from the sythensis in 1B. We will focus on identifying barriers and past failures and what determines how much value is derived from investment, which can then be used to inform future attempts. Use AMN to disseminate this knowledge.

(C)  Contribute to the co-development of exemplar restoration projects that showcase successful regeneration of mātauranga and bioheritage, in native species enterprises and urban environments.

SO7: We enable people to build biological heritage resilience with the right policy and governance instruments.

In particular, the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge (BHNSC) has the opportunity to make a key contribution to the alignment of the natural resource system review and provide a transformational research focus on leadership models, policy development, system co-design principles, and implementation across Aotearoa New Zealand. Our research priorities for the next five years are to support the achievement of the following goals for the development of biological heritage governance and policy environment:

1. Mana whenua are enabled and resourced to participate as a Treaty partner.

2. Design a new governance architecture for biological heritage resilience that delivers:

• Te Tiriti-based governance of natural resources grounded in tikanga and mātauranga Māori.
• A national leadership ‘model’ to champion biological heritage resilience.
• Greater policy integration & agency coordination.
• Effective regulatory and non-regulatory frameworks to protect and restore biodiversity.
• A range of new funding arrangements and support mechanisms.
• Enhanced understanding and identification of opportunities for better alignment of incentives (including price signals).
• Appropriate inclusive participatory approaches.

3.  Lift and sustain capability to reverse the decline in bioheritage.