Environmental Indicators

The Council uses environmental indicators to collect relevant information. Indicators are sometimes known as parameters, and define what should be monitored on a regular basis to detect changes in the environment. Indicators also measure the threat or pressure on a resource, the state of the resource and the responses taken by Council and other organisations to protect the resource. The environmental indicators used by the Matamata-Piako District Council to monitor the pressures on the environment, the state of the environment and the response to the pressures and state, are presented in appendix one. The environmental information collected to date on each of these indicators is presented in the body of this report.

Reporting on the state of the environment

The Council has decided to publish this ‘State of Environment Report’ to allow the wider community to understand the effects of human and natural activities on the environment and to inform the community about the state of the District’s environment.

As this is the first time that environmental information on the district has been presented in such a complete form, much of the information is presented as baseline data only. This means that most of the data is only presented for one year. Ideally information should be presented for a longer period of time as this enables trends to be identified. The baseline data presented in this report will however enable trends to be identified in future years.

Structure of this Report

This report contains nine chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 provide an introduction to the report and an overview of the Matamata-Piako District, its people, natural and cultural heritage, economy and natural environment. Chapter 3 identifies twelve significant resource management issues identified in the Matamata-Piako Proposed District Plan. Chapters 4 – 9 discuss the following six of the twelve identified issues;

• Rural Development
• Residential Growth
• Solid Waste
• Natural Environment
• Heritage and Cultural Values
• Natural Hazards

Each chapter starts with a statement of what the district wants to achieve in addressing the issues. This provides an introduction to compare the current state of the environment with the desired state, and over time, track progress towards the desired state.

Each resource chapter includes a case study that discusses a site-specific environmental issue. These case studies illustrate changes in environmental management and show how the community can work together to achieve positive environmental results.