New Zealand regional councils have a core purpose of effectively and sustainably managing human effects on Te Taiao, the natural world, amid ongoing economic development. The country supports more than 300 estuaries, ecologically sensitive environments that continue to be visibly affected by land and water use, sedimentation, and runoff. In addition to land-based pressures, New Zealand estuaries and their adjacent coastlines are increasingly being subjected to climate related pressures: greater storm surges, sea level rise, increased frequency and intensity of marine heat waves, coastal squeeze, and habitat loss.
State of the Environment monitoring was initiated across New Zealand to start addressing some of these key issues. Environmental data now shows that current environmental policy and management are not supporting estuarine recovery or even preventing estuarine decline in many of these systems. Terrestrial and freshwater management interventions slightly relieve some of the pressures on our receiving environments but opportunities to implement adaptive management actions for better environmental outcomes on the coast may be adopted in the absence of suitable policy. We provide some examples of small to large scale adaptive management that have been undertaken through non-regulatory initiatives to reverse estuary decline.