KEY POINTS:
The Government has set four key priorities for its spending on environmental research in the next three to five years.
They include global environmental change - predicting climate change - where funding has been static since 1998. The present pool of money for climate variability and change is about $15 million, and much of it goes towards climate databases.
"There needs to be a stronger focus on predicting future climate in New Zealand, as environmental managers need these predictions to help society adapt to future climate regimes," a "science roadmap" released yesterday by Science Minister Steve Maharey said.
The other three priorities are land, water and coastal research, urban design and hazards, and biosecurity.
Priorities for the next three to five years will include biodiversity, and oceanic systems, potentially including the environmental impacts of seafloor mining.
"This 'roadmap' creates a new direction of how research into the environment can sustain and protect our pristine surroundings," Mr Maharey said.
Establishing long-term directions for environmental science would help to identify future research opportunities.
He said the environment was the foundation for much of the nation's economic prosperity.
The Government spends about $150 million a year on environmental research, and the plan outlined yesterday in a 60-page report looks forward to 2017.
Biophysical science, socioeconomic studies and health research all needed to be linked, as more integrated and systems-based approaches could help environmental managers to deal with the issues they were facing, the report said.
Examples of areas where improved systems knowledge was needed included interaction of surface water and aquifers, impacts of freshwater on coastal environments, fisheries ecosystems, and urban design.
- NZPA
