Ecosystem services of protected areas and ecological corridors within the Kaimai-Tauranga Catchments: Technical report series 2
Introduction
This study summarises the natural values of the Kaimai-Mamaku catchment. It also assesses the relative economic, recreational and ecological benefits of conservation land and ecological corridors within the study area. Published 2010.Download the publication
Summary
The western Bay of Plenty, including Tauranga City, is one of the fastest growing parts of New Zealand. These changes are being managed by ‘SmartGrowth’: a sub-regional, inter-agency planning initiative aimed at implementing managed growth within the SmartGrowth area. The expanding population within this area is concentrated into a relatively narrow strip of developed land that lies between the Kaimai Ranges and the Tauranga Harbour and the open coast.
Within the next twenty years further population pressure and land use issues are predicted within the SmartGrowth area, which includes the Kaimai-Tauranga catchment (‘the study area’). Conservation efforts need to
strategically align with and contribute to the social and economic policies of SmartGrowth and this can be achieved by proactive, long-term engagement with communities and providing information about “ecological services” provided by conservation lands. Ecosystem services include, but are not limited to, functions such as: the importance of forests in preventing soil erosion and maintaining water quality, the role of insects in pollinating crops, the relationships between wetlands and flood control, and the contribution of indigenous habitats to ecotourism.
This study summarises the natural values of the Kaimai-Mamaku catchment (the study area), and identifies actual and potential ecological corridors within it. It also assesses the relative economic, recreational and ecological benefits of conservation land and ecological corridors within the study area. Areas with high ecological value, but currently lacking legal protection, are identified, to ensure that those values are retained. An analysis is provided of the values of ecological services provided in the study area. Changing land use pressures that are likely to occur in the study area in the next 20 years or so are discussed. Incentives to maintain those services, the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and land management agencies are summarised. Recommendations are provided for future management, in terms of inter-agency approaches.