#RMA: Forest & Bird Warns Resource Management Reforms Will Weaken Environmental Protections

Forest & Bird is warning that the Government’s proposed replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA) risks significantly weakening environmental protections, despite recommendations from Parliament’s Environment Committee aimed at improving the legislation.

Speaking to Radio Waatea, Forest & Bird Acting General Counsel May Downing said the organisation remains deeply concerned that the proposed reforms place economic development ahead of environmental stewardship and could have lasting consequences for New Zealand’s natural environment.

The Government’s Resource Management reforms are intended to replace the current RMA with a new planning framework designed to simplify consenting processes, reduce compliance costs and accelerate infrastructure, housing and economic development.

However, Forest & Bird argues the Environment Committee’s recommendations do not go far enough to address what it describes as fundamental flaws within the proposed legislation.

One of the organisation’s principal concerns is that the new framework shifts the emphasis away from protecting the natural environment by removing the clear legal obligation to safeguard ecosystems, freshwater, indigenous biodiversity and other environmental values.

Forest & Bird says the reforms would reduce the importance of environmental “bottom lines” that have guided decision-making under the existing Resource Management Act for more than three decades.

The conservation organisation is also concerned the legislation gives greater weight to development outcomes while reducing the ability of decision-makers to decline projects that could result in significant environmental harm.

According to Forest & Bird, this could lead to increased pressure on native forests, wetlands, rivers, estuaries and coastal environments already facing ongoing degradation.

The reforms also have implications for Māori.

Forest & Bird says weakening environmental protections may undermine the ability of iwi and hapū to exercise kaitiakitanga over their whenua and waterways. The organisation argues that healthy ecosystems are fundamental not only to biodiversity but also to cultural identity, customary practices and the protection of wāhi tapu and taonga species.

While the Environment Committee recommended several amendments to improve aspects of the Bill, Forest & Bird says many of its key concerns remain unresolved, including the balance between environmental protection and economic development.

The organisation believes New Zealand needs planning laws that support housing and infrastructure while maintaining strong protections for the country’s unique natural heritage and meeting obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Forest & Bird is now urging Parliament to strengthen the legislation before it becomes law, warning that once environmental protections are removed, restoring damaged ecosystems becomes significantly more difficult and costly.

The Resource Management reforms remain one of the Government’s most significant legislative programmes and are expected to continue generating debate as Parliament works through the next stages of the law-making process.

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