Public money spent on environmental research should be better targeted to make sure New Zealand is properly equipped to tackle freshwater and climate change issues, according to the government's watchdog.
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A new report from Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton outlines a disconnect between the information the government says is important and the environmental research it actually funds.
"The essential thing is the people that invest money in research on behalf of all New Zealanders should be able to account for how it achieves the long run goals we're going after," he told RNZ.
He recommended the money be distributed by a new independent environmental research council - similar to the Health Research Council, which hands out $126 million each year.
Environmental research is worth about $500 million each year. Upton recommended this new council ring-fence $255 million for dedicated, long-term environmental research.
"The way public funds are currently invested is fragmented, making it hard to respond to long-term environmental problems such as climate change, freshwater quality and biodiversity loss."
Upton also recommended the government come up with a national strategy on environmental research funding, and that it be constantly updated and reviewed.
"As your monitoring for the environment improves, over time your monitoring will tell you there are new problems and new challenges - and you may also be fixing some - and you need to be able to feed that into your strategy.
"If we've got research priorities into the distance, we know the money is going after those."
In the 2018/19 financial year, the total investment in environmental research ranged from between $427 million and $516 million. Much of this was via Crown agencies, but regional councils also account for more than $70 million in funding for issues like land and water, and environmental management.
Upton said the system was so fragmented that sourcing that figure took months.
"The system simply is not set up to provide this information. The conclusions are quite straightforward, but a really interesting story is how hard it is to know what we're actually doing and how."
University of Auckland ecologist and Associate Professor Cate Macinnis-Ng said the lack of coordination meant New Zealand had knowledge gaps in ecology and broader environmental sciences.
"We are therefore well behind other countries in detecting and understanding long-term environmental change processes such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
"While we have many conservation successes, particularly around pest eradication and enhancement of rare bird populations, these successes are very patchy with uneven distribution of research funds."
Upton recommended funding decisions more strongly integrate mātauranga Māori.
Dr Macinnis-Ng said any new funding agency should give equal weight to Māori knowledge and environmental science.
"While we may be behind on long-term monitoring compared to overseas research, it is never too late to start, and working in an inclusive way that embraces te ao Māori would be a wonderful investment in a sustainable future. I would love to see Aotearoa becoming a world leader in empowering indigenous knowledge holders to improve environmental outcomes across all fields of environmental research."
Read the full report: A review of the funding and prioritisation of environmental research in New Zealand.
